Featured Articles
Water Management
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Five tips on better water management from Jaydee Smith, Swine Production Systems Program Lead at Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) in that organisation’s Pork News and Views newsletter.
Water is an essential element in livestock production.
It is important to manage this natural resource
carefully for best production and financial
results. Here are five ideas on how to do that.
Start by doing a water audit. Wasted water costs
money to pump and to dispose of. If you are
serious about water management, install a meter
and compare consumption with what the animals
need, as a means of detecting problems. For
grower and finisher pigs, water requirements have
been found to be 2.3L for every kilogram of feed
consumed. For sows on a farrow-to-finish farm,
average daily usage has been found to be about
20L per sow.
Second, check drinker placement. Mounting
nipple drinkers correctly reduces wasted water.
For drinkers pointed straight out pigs should drink from shoulder height. For drinkers mounted
downward at 45°, the drinker should be 5cm
above the back of the pig. Mounting lower will
increase water wastage because the pigs cannot
access the drinker properly.
Generally, drinkers
should be set for the height of the smallest pig
in the pen. In research trials, however, providing
a step for smaller pigs instead of mounting the
drinker lower resulted in a 13 per cent reduction of
water waste, and reduced manure volume by
10 per cent compared to a conventional set-up.
| Water consumption by swine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Swine type | Weight range (kg) | Water requirement rangea (L/day) | Average typical water useb (L/day) |
| Weaner | 7-22 | 1.0-3.2 | 2.0 |
| Feeder pig | 23-36 | 3.2-4.5 | 4.5 |
| 36-70 | 4.5-7.3 | 4.5 | |
| 70-110 | 7.3-10 | 9 | |
| Gestating sow/boar | - | 13.6-17.2 | 15 |
| Lactating sowc | - | 18.1-22.7 | 20 |
| a A result of the animals’ environment and management
b Typical consumption over a year on a daily basis under average agricultural conditions in Ontario. c Includes unweaned piglets. |
|||
Third, check drinker flow rates. Flow rates determine
time spent at the drinker, water intake and
water wastage. Too little is just as costly as
too much since it will adversely affect feed intake
and animal growth performance. Recommended
flow rates are 1,500ml per minute for lactating sows,
and 700ml per minute in the grow-finish barn.
Fourth, consider alternatives to nipple drinkers.
Cup or bowl drinkers have been shown to waste
less water, reducing spillage by 10 to 15 per cent. Wet/
dry feeders in the grow-finish phase reduce
water used by 34 per cent, and slurry volume by 20 to 40 per cent
compared with dry feeders and a bowl. Wet/dry
feeders also increase consumption of mash diets
compared to dry feeders and a separate drinker,
resulting in a five per cent improvement in average daily
gain. Be sure they are properly adjusted.
Finally, assess the diet. Feeding a diet containing
excessive protein or excessive mineral
levels results in increased water usage.
And, of course, remember that temperature
impacts water requirements. For example,
every 1° above 20°C results in a sow drinking
0.2L more water each day.
For more information, refer to the OMAFRA
Factsheet ‘Water Requirements of Livestock’ (716/400).
June 2012
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