The Rural Voice, 2002-01, Page 27the air by eliminating dry feed. Air
quality tests showed 10 to 30 times
less dust in barns using wet feeding.
A study in Britain showed a 50 per
cent reduction in sick days among
staff who worked in wet -fed barns.
Gadd said another study showed
airborne microorganisms, including
respiratory viruses, were three times
higher in dry -fed barns than in liquid
barns. In Britain this means a saving
for wet -fed operators of about .4
UK£ per animal because in dry -fed
barns, twice as many animals are
slaughtered because of respiratory
problems. Stockmen too benefit from
the clean air with fewer suffering
from farmer's lung, said Gadd, who
has emphysema himself and must be
careful going into barns.
T'
he miraculous results of wet
feeding are played out with
sows as well as growing pigs.
Feeding wet feed causes sows to eat
more during their lactation,
especially in hot weather. "Expect a
sow to eat 800 g. to 1100 g. more on
liquid," Gadd said, noting this helps
sows keep their conditioning during
this time when heavy demands are
being made on their bodies.
In addition, wet -fed sows have a
faster turnaround to servicing —
under five days. Wet -fed sows
produced 22.4 weaned piglets per
year compared to 20 for dry -fed
sows. The weight of piglets weaned
per year was 17 per cent higher. In
barns that use crates, the
improvement is about 11 per cent per
crate per year in weaned weight
produced.
Among dry sows, wet feeding
helps produce calmer sows under
group housing conditions, Gadd said.
After wet feeding half the sows had
settled within 15 minutes of feeding.
With dry -feeding, it can take an hour,
and then only five per cent of sows
have settled down, he said.
This could affect the ability of
sows to get pregnant. "We need good
figures to see how it effects
implantation," Gadd said. "I think it
will mean more eggs will implant in
sows on wet feed."
Fewer sows suffer from urinary
tract infections when they are wet -fed
because they drink more liquids.
For sows kept in stalls, wet feed
can significantly reduce the amount
of water going into manure pits and
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JANUARY 2002 23