Feeding outdoor gilts
A new method of feeding outdoor gilts is proving successful on commercial pig farms in Britain.
Numbers of piglets born alive have increased to more than 11 per litter, according to the researchers behind the new feeding method, Cotswold Pig Development Company. Some of its customers were feeding incoming gilts too well at the wrong time. The animals peaked too quickly and ovulated too strongly at an early heat, when they should not be served, according to the company’s nutritionist Mike Williamson.
“They should not be mated until their third heat,” Williamson said. He advised feeding a high-density diet for the first two weeks after their arrival on farm to maintain condition after a move; then changing to a lower density diet to discourage strong ovulation; and four weeks later switching back to a high-energy feed such as a lactating sow diet offered ad lib for another three weeks until the gilts come in season.
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The flushing system ensured gilts were well-grown, had strong heats and shed a large number of eggs when served at about 220 days old, he added. On some farms, average number of piglets born to gilts had increased by at least one per litter, he said.
– British Farming News
Vitamin E and mastitis
Besides decreasing the exposure of teat ends to potential pathogens, dairy producers have only one other option in controlling mastitis. That is through improved nutrition.
Vitamin E can play a role in boosting the immune system. Cows with mastitis have low levels of vitamin E in both plasma and milk. Ohio State University researchers have indicated that vitamin E and an enzyme that contains selenium are important in the function of cells that fight disease. When pathogens enter the mammary gland, they trigger an influx of these cells. If vitamin E and selenium are not in full force, the disease-fighting cells may not live as long and are therefore less effective at fighting disease.
Gary Lynch, a nutritionist with BASF Canada, said 40 percent of streptococcal and 50 percent of coliform infections resulting in clinical mastitis during the first quarter of lactation are the result of new infections occurring during the dry period. That means control strategies need to start before calving.
Cows supplemented with one gram of vitamin E per day and injected with 0.1 mg/kg selenium during the dry period reduces the incidence of mastitis.
In a second experiment, vitamin E supplementation of one gram per head per day and selenium injection of 50 mg 21 days pre-calving reduced months of clinical mastitis per lactation quarter by 62 percent.
Other points to remember:
- Include proper levels of vitamin E in the diet at all times, including the dry period.
- Ensiled forages and high-moisture corn contain less than 20 percent of the vitamin E found in fresh forage or grain.
- Injections of vitamin E or selenium are not as effective as daily supplementation.
- Cows and heifers should be supplemented 60 days prior to calving
– The BASF Canada Nutritionist newsletter
