Desempenho de suínos nas fases de crescimento e terminação submetidos à alimentação com ração seca e úmida

Abstract

The productivity of pigs has evolved greatly due to improvements in animal nutrition. In the post-weaning phase, some farms use to wet the dry bran feed, changing its physical form from solid to liquid (“wet fed”). The use of this feed helps in the adaptation of the piglet, which stops ingesting milk and starts consuming solid food, reducing stress at weaning. Although the use of wet feed for this phase is frequent on farms, little is known about its use in pigs in the growth and finishing phases. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of feeding pigs in the growing and finishing phases using wet feed compared to dry bran feed on pig performance. The work was carried out in an integrated commercial farm in Uberlândia/MG and 240 male pigs will be used. The experimental treatments consisted of T1: dry feed and T2: wet feed. The experimental design used was the DIC (Completely Randomized Design) with a split plot, with six replications per treatment, with each pen (with 20 animals) being an experimental unit. The evaluation parameters were: initial weight (PI), daily weight gain (GDP), daily feed intake (CDR), feed conversion (CA) and final slaughter weight (PF). According to the results, the animals that consumed dry feed had a greater daily weight gain (P <0.05), obtaining a higher final weight in relation to the animals that received the wet feed, which in turn, presented better feed conversion. (P<0.05). The use of wet feed for a longer period of time in the growth and finishing phases may result in poor pig performance, further increasing pig production costs.