断奶仔猪养殖英文资料.pdfVIP

1 Growth of the Young Weaned Pig C.T. Whittemore and D.M. Green University of Edinburgh, King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK The Potential for Growth Without human intervention, the pig will become nutritionally independent of its dam at 15–20 kg liveweight. Natural weaning will occur at 70 days or so of age. Earlier weaning than this creates a disruption to the growth of the weaned pig that is inversely proportional to pig age. The competence of the digestive system of the suckled pig to handle a non-milk diet begins to develop (aided by challenge/response) between 14 and 28 days of age. Under conditions of gradual diet change from liquid to solid feed, growth is likely to be fully supportable without sucked milk from around 56 days. The presentation of a mixture of milk and exter- nally sourced solid feed to the gut of the young pig is relevant to natural development. Abrupt weaning at 21 days of age is not conducive to the achievement of normal growth in pigs. Fifty years ago, conventional European practice was to wean at 56 days of age. Advances in nutritional knowledge and the manufacture of specialist housing for young pigs led to a rapid reduction in weaning age. After a number of failed flirtations with 7-day, 10-day and 14-day weaning, the ‘industry standard’ in the UK settled at 21-day weaning. A substantial proportion of successful practitioners nevertheless chose not to wean at ages below 28 days, and in other European countries 35-day weaning remains common. The UK industry standard has, since the 1980s, drifted upward from 21 days towards 28 days, with an apparent advantage in terms of numbers of pigs born per sow per year. The description of growth following weaning requires at its core a prediction of