The processing situation for hogs is better than it was, but nowhere near where it used to be. The backlog has led to the euthanizing of many perfectly healthy animals that cannot be slaughtered before becoming too heavy for the processors? equipment. Many producers have been looking at ways to change the diets of their hogs in hopes of slowing their growth until such a time as they can be processed. Thursday night, Iowa State University (ISU) released some findings that they have on the subject.
The Iowa Pork Industry Center and Iowa State Extension and Outreach held a webinar about changing the diet of hogs to slow weight gain during processing slowdowns. Dr. Nicholas Gabler outlined the study. He said the study was to find data to give the industry on practical programs that can easily be implemented without dietary or water restrictions. They also wanted to monitor the progress and well-being of the hogs after so many days on the program.
They tested eight different diet options on the hogs and found the best results they saw were in a 4% Calcium Chloride diet where hogs only gained 20 pounds over 28 days. The second-best results were with a 97% corn diet, in which hogs only gained 30 pounds over 28 days.
Nutrient intakes were monitored daily to observe the health of the hogs and make sure they were not being deprived of anything they need. ISU?s Dr. John Patience says they noted that the hogs? energy intakes dropped on the diets as fiber content was increased. This is what they were hoping to see.
Dr. Patience said that they were most concerned with the intake of calcium and phosphorus. They did not want to see those numbers drop. They did not see a drop. However, Dr. Patience also cautions producers on switching diets. ISU is still waiting to see corroborating evidence from commercial studies also being done at this time.
There is more data than we could possibly cover in one article. ISU saw that some variation of the high corn diet was the most common practice among hog producers, as it is the easiest to implement.
Much more information on this study can be found on the IPIC website.
