Effects of Liquid Feeding on Growth Performance, Slaughter Performance and Ammonia Emission of Pigs

Liquid feeding could enhance the growth performance of pigs and was extensively used in Europe. Although several reports showed the effects of liquid feeding on growth performance, there was little research on ammonia in farms. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of liquid feeding and dry feed feeding on growth performance and ammonia emissions of pigs.

1200 fattening pigs were randomly assigned to two groups, the dry feed group (DF) consisted of 20 pens with 28 pigs (36.70±1.31 kg). The liquid feeding group (LF) had 20 small pens, each with 32 pigs (35.65±1.51 kg). Each pen had half male and half female. The two groups used the same feeding management practices, environmental control conditions and the same density of 0.8 m2/pig. In the experiment, the feed of Giastar Agro-Pastoral Co., Ltd. was used. At the end of the experiment, 8 pigs (4B 4@) were slaughtered to measure slaughter traits in each group.

Liquid feeding increased average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P<0.05) and decreased the F/G of pigs between the body weights of 35 to 135 kg (P<0.05). Liquid feeding reduced the concentration of ammonia in the enclosure, it does not affect ammonia or even increase. There were no significant differences for slaughter characters of pigs in the DF and LF groups.