Feed accounts for at least 70% of the cost of commercial pig production. Therefore, it is the most important operational cost item in a pig enterprise. To maximize profits, a pig farmer must minimize feeding costs. Feed must contain nutrients in the right quantities required for body maintenance, growth and reproduction.
There are six classes of nutrients required by the pig: water, energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and lipids. These nutrients can be supplied by a wide variety of feedstuffs. Feeding pigs for optimum production requires that feedstuffs be combined in proportionate amounts that will provide the required nutrients needed by the animal.
Water:
Sixty-five percent of the pig’s body is water. The pig requires water to enable all body functions such as digestion, excretion, blood circulation and maintenance of body temperature. Lack of water quickly leads to a rise in body temperature and death. Also, less water will have a major effect on food intake and pig performance. A Sow needs about 20 liters of drinking water daily. A farmer should supply clean fresh water all the time.
Energy:
EnergyProvides the body system with the power to function. The energy requirement of the pig is supplied by carbohydrates and fats. The main sources of carbohydrates are cereals, grains and their by-products, root, tubers, crops and fruits.
Fats commonly used in pig feeds include groundnuts and soybeans oils, among others. The pig requires very small amount of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid required for the body’s normal functioning.
Cereal/Grain: Maize, Sorghum, Millet, Rice,Wheat.
Cereal by-products: Maize bran, wheat bran, rice bran
Root & Tubers: Cassava, sweet potatoes, yam
Fruits: Banana, Jack fruit, Avocado, Pineapple
Minerals:
- These are the nutrients found in bones. Minerals are required for strong bones and normal body function. There are 13 essential inorganic minerals known to be required by the pig. The minerals required in sizeable quantities are calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and chlorine.
Vitamin:
Vitamins are required for maintenance of normal health. Common sources of vitamins for pigs include green leaves and vegetables .Vitamin A,D,E, and K are fat soluble whilst B’s are water soluble .These micronutrients serve many important roles in the body.
Vitamin A:
- This fat-soluble vitamin is essential for vision, reproduction, growth and maintenance of epithelial tissue, and mucous secretions. Vitamin A is found as carotenoid precursors in green plant material and yellow corn. β-Carotene is the most active form of the various carotenes. Unfortunately, only about one-fourth of the total carotene in yellow corn is in the form of β-carotene. The NRC suggests that for pigs, 1 mg of chemically determined carotene in corn or a corn-soybean mixture is equal to 267 IU of vitamin A.
- The use of stabilized vitamin A is common in manufactured feeds and in vitamin supplements or premixes. Concentrates containing natural vitamin A (fish oils most often) may be used to fortify diets. Green forage, dehydrated alfalfa meal, and high- quality legume hays are also good sources of β-carotene. Both natural vitamin A and β-carotene are easily destroyed by air, light, high temperatures, rancid fats, organic acids, and certain mineral elements. For these reasons, natural feedstuffs probably
should not be entirely relied on as sources of vitamin A, especially because synthetic vitamin A is very inexpensive. Vitamin D:
This is antirachitic ( used to prevent ricket), fat-soluble vitamin is necessary for proper bone growth and ossification. Vitamin D occurs as the precursor sterols, ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), which are converted to active vitamin D by
UV radiation. Although pigs can use vitamin D2 (irradiated plant sterol) or vitamin D3 (irradiated animal sterol), they seem to preferentially use D3. Some
of the vitamin D requirement can be met by exposing pigs to direct sunlight for a short period each day. Sources of vitamin D include irradiated yeast, sun- cured hays, activated plant or animal sterols, fish oils, and vitamin premixes. For this vitamin, 1 IU is equivalent to 0.025 mg of cholecalciferol. The
estimated vitamin D requirement of 200 IU/kg for gestating and lactating sows
was increased to 800 IU/kg in the 2012 NRC publication.
Vitamin B12:
•This vitamin, also called cyanocobalamin, contains cobalt and has numerous important metabolic functions. Feedstuffs of plant origin are devoid of this vitamin, but animal products are good sources. Although some intestinal synthesis of this vitamin occurs, vitamin B12 is generally included in vitamin premixes for swine.
Vitamin B6:
A group of compounds called the pyridoxines have vitamin B6 activity and are important in amino acid metabolism. They are present in plentiful quantities in the natural feed ingredients usually fed to pigs. The requirement for vitamin B6 in young pigs (5–25 kg) was increased by 3–4 fold in the 2012 NRC publication compared with the previous edition
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C):
Pigs are thought to synthesize this vitamin at a rapid enough rate to meet their needs under normal
conditions. However, a few studies have shown benefits in performance of early-weaned pigs under stressful conditions when this vitamin was added to the diet.
Vitamin E:
This fat-soluble vitamin serves as a natural antioxidant in feedstuffs. There are eight naturally occurring forms of vitamin E, but d-α-tocopherol has the greatest biologic activity. Vitamin E is required by pigs of all ages and is closely interrelated with selenium. The vitamin E requirement is 11–16 IU/kg of diet for growing pigs and 44 IU/kg for sows. Some nutritionists recommend higher dietary levels for sows in the eastern corn belt of the USA, where selenium levels in feeds are likely to be low. Vitamin E supplementation can only partially obviate a selenium deficiency.
- Green forage, legume hays and meals, cereal grains, and especially the germ of cereal grains contain appreciable amounts of vitamin E. Activity of vitamin E is reduced in feedstuffs when exposed to heat, high-moisture conditions, rancid fat, organic acids, and high levels of certain trace elements. One IU of vitamin E activity is equivalent to 0.67 mg of d-α-tocopherol or 1 mg of dl-α-tocopherol acetate.
Vitamin K:
This is a fat-soluble vitamin necessary to maintain normal blood clotting. The requirement for vitamin K is low, 0.5 mg/kg of diet. Bacterial synthesis of the vitamin and subsequent absorption, directly or by coprophagy, generally will meet the requirement for pigs. Although rare, hemorrhages have been reported in newborn as well as growing pigs, so supplemental vitamin K is recommended at 2 mg/kg of diet as a preventive measure. Generally, hemorrhaging problems can be traced back to the feeding of diets with moldy grain or other ingredients that contain molds.
Riboflavin:
- This water-soluble vitamin is a constituent of two important enzyme systems involved with carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism. Swine diets are normally deficient in this vitamin, and the crystalline form is included in premixes. Natural sources include green forage, milk by-
products, brewer’s yeast, legume meals, and some fermentation and distillery by-products.
Protein:
Protein provides the primary blocks for body building and repair i.e meat, collagen, hair and nails. The most commonly used are plant and animal protein containing feedstuffs.
ANIMAL proteins
Fish meal
Blood meal
Poultry meal
Black soldier fly
Plant Protein
Soyabeans
Beans
Groundnuts
Cotton seed cake
Sunflower cakep
Amino Acids
- When various feedstuffs are involved, working out pig diets on the basis of amino acids is an effective
approach. Amino acids, normally supplied by dietary protein, are required for maintenance, muscle growth, development of fetuses and supporting tissues in gestating sows, and milk production in lactating sows. Out of the 22 amino acids, 12 are synthesized by the animal; the other 10 must be provided in the diet for normal growth. The 10 dietary essential amino acids for swine are arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, and Valine. Cystine and Tyrosine can meet a portion of the requirement for Methionine and Phenylalanine, respectively. Limiting amino acids: - The amino acid that is present in a feed in the least amount relative to pig requirements is
said to be the first-limiting amino acid. The extent to which this limiting amino acid is adequate determines pig performance.
Lysine - Lysine is generally the first limiting amino acid in almost all practical diets, so if diets are formulated on a lysine basis, the other amino acid requirements should be met. However, caution must be exercised when a crystalline lysine supplement is included in the diet to meet a portion of the pig’s lysine requirement.
- A general rule of thumb is that crude protein content can be reduced by 2 percentage points and the diet supplemented with 0.15% lysine (0.19% lysine•HCl). However, greater reductions in dietary protein coupled with additional lysine may result in deficiencies of tryptophan, threonine, and/or methionine unless they are also supplemented.
Classes of Pig Feed
1.Creep feed
2.Weaner feed
3.Grower feed
4.Gestating/ Lactating feed
5.Finisher feed.
Feed Preparation