In a paper presented at Kansas State University Swine Day 2012, S. Nitikanchana and colleagues at Kansas State University reported a study using a total of 1,253 pigs (PIC 1050 × 337; initially 45lb) in a 104-day study to evaluate the effects of using a wet-dry (WD) or conventional dry (CD) feeder on growth performance of growing-finishing pigs.

At the start of the trial, pens of pigs were weighed and randomly allotted to one of two feeder types.

The CD feeder was a single-sided, 56-inch-wide, stainless steel feeder (Thorp Equipment, Inc., Thorp, WI) with four 14-inch feeding spaces and a 4.25-inch-deep trough. A cup waterer in pens using CD feeders ensured ad libitum access to water as well as feed.

The WD feeder was double-sided (15-inch-wide feeder opening on each side) with a single nipple waterer (Crystal Springs, GroMaster, Inc., Omaha, NE), and the feeder was the only source of water. All pigs were fed the same corn-soybean meal diets containing 30 per cent bakery by-product and 10 to 45 per cent dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) during five dietary phases.

For the overall period, pigs fed with the WD feeder had greater average daily gain (P<0.01) and average daily feed intake (P=0.01) with no differences in feed:gain ratio (P=0.50) compared with pigs fed using the CD feeder.

Nitikanchana and co-authors conclude that their study confirms previous results where pigs fed using a WD feeder have greater average daily gain and average daily feed intake than those fed with a CD feeder.

Reference

Nitikanchana S., S.S. Dritz, M.D. Tokach, J.M. DeRouchey, R.D. Goodband and J.L. Nelssen. 2012. Effects of feeder design (conventional dry vs. wet-dry) on growth performance of 45- to 246-lb pigs. Proceedings of the Kansas State University Swine Industry Day 2012, p376-380.

Further Reading You can view the full paper in the proceedings by clicking here. Other papers presented at this conference can be viewed by clicking here.

January 2013