Later weaning not linked to improved piglet health
Later weaning can significantly boost piglet performance during the immediate post-weaning period, but it will not improve clinical health status. That was the finding of a study – the AGEWEAN programme – to investigate the effects of weaning age in both an indoor- and outdoor-lactation environment on the biological and economic efficiency of production where diets contain no antibiotic growth promotors (AGPs) and include lower levels of copper and zinc.
The immediate post-weaning period in pigs is often characterised by a reduced and variable food intake, digestive disorders and poor growth and development. Weaning pigs at a later age has been suggested as an approach to reduce the potentially negative effects of the AGP ban on the national herd.
The results of the research were presented to delegates at the British Society of Animal Science’s annual conference by Newcastle University’s Helen Edge.
Involving piglets at six separate experimental sites in the UK, the three weaning age treatments were four weeks, six weeks and eight weeks. All progeny were monitored to weaning, at least 50% were monitored to 30kg live weight and at least 25% were monitored through to slaughter weight.
“And there were significant differences between the three weaning age treatments in terms of daily live weight gain (DLWG), feed intake and feed conversion efficiency (FCR) during the immediate post-weaning period. Pigs weaned at eight weeks of age had significantly higher DLWG and feed intakes. But their FCR was poorer, possibly due to them being offered a lower quality diet appropriate to their age,” explained Dr Edge.
Conversely, from 30kg to the point of slaughter, pigs weaned at four weeks of age had significantly higher DLWG and feed intake than pigs weaned at either six or eight weeks of age. There was no significant difference in FCR.
There were significant effects of weaning age on the back-fat thickness of the pigs at the point of slaughter. And in terms of overall lifetime performance, pigs weaned at four weeks of age had a significantly higher DLWG when calculated from birth to slaughter.
“While there was no effect of weaning age on the number of pigs requiring veterinary treatments from weaning to slaughter, there was a significant increase in the number of four week weaned pigs being removed from trial during this period,” added Dr Edge.
“Overall, when physical performance was considered over the period from birth to slaughter, there were no benefits of later weaning.”
- Presented to the British Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting, March 31 to April 2, 2008, Scarborough, UK.
- H. Edge, K. Breuer, K. Hillman, C. Morgan, A. Stewart, D. Strachan, L. Taylor, C. Theobald, S.A. Edwards. “AGEWEAN - The effect of weaning age on growing pig helath and performance in the absence of antibiotic growth promoters.” Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, pp10 http://www.bsas.org.uk/Publications/Annual_Conference_Proceedings
- PDF of Powerpoint presentations available at http://www.bsas.org.uk/Members_Area/
- summary (pdf)
