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The IVOG ® feeding station: a tool for monitoring the individual feed intake of group‐housed weanling pigs
Author(s) -
Bruininx E. M. A. M.,
Van Der PeetSchwering C. M. C.,
Schrama J. W.,
Den Hartog L. A.,
Everts H.,
Beynen A. C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1439-0396
pISSN - 0931-2439
DOI - 10.1046/j.1439-0396.2001.00305.x
Subject(s) - weanling , zoology , weaning , biology , animal husbandry , feed conversion ratio , body weight , ecology , endocrinology , agriculture
Three batches of weanling pigs (total n =310 pigs) were used in a 34‐day experiment to validate the use of an IVOG ® feeding station as a tool for monitoring individual feed intake of group‐housed weanling pigs. An IVOG ® feeding station for weanling pigs consists of a single‐space dry feeder placed on a load cell in combination with electronic identification. Data of 192 weanling pigs (18 pens) fed by IVOG ® feeding stations were used to develop a protocol for the screening of IVOG ® data. To assess the quality of the IVOG ® data, the feed intake per pen computed from the screened IVOG ® data was compared with the feed intake calculated from feed weighing. To assess the suitability of the use of IVOG ® feeding stations under practical pig husbandry conditions, performance of 96 weanling pigs fed by the IVOG ® feeding stations was compared with that of 118 weanling pigs that were fed using commercial single‐space dry feeders (11 pens). Feed intake per pen computed from the IVOG ® data was similar to the feed intake calculated from feed weighing (average recovery 101.1%) for all test periods (p > 0.1). Furthermore, feed recovery did not differ among feeding stations (p > 0.1). During the first 13 days after weaning, the average daily feed intake (ADFI) of weanling pigs fed by the single‐space dry feeders was higher (p < 0.05) than that of weanling pigs fed by the feeding stations. Average daily gain and gain to feed ratios did not differ (p > 0.1) between both feeding systems. During the remaining 21 days and averaged over the entire experimental period, performance did not differ between the feeding systems (p > 0.1). It can be concluded that IVOG ® feeding stations for weanling pigs are a suitable tool to monitor individual feed intake of group‐housed weanling pigs.