How to feed pregnant sows scientifically? Remember these nine key points

Sows have vigorous anabolism during gestation, and the nutritional level of the feed plays an important role in their reproductive performance. If nutrition is lacking during gestation, the sow will be thin and weak, piglets will have low birth weight, and the interval from weaning to estrus will be lengthened; if nutrition is excessive, it will not only waste feed but also cause the sow to become overfat and reduce her reproductive performance, such as difficult farrowing and reduced milk yield.

Therefore, reasonably formulating the diet of pregnant sows is extremely important. Pig OK has compiled the eight key points for scientifically feeding pregnant sows for everyone's reference.

1 Daily feed intake

According to China's feeding standards, the daily feed intake of pregnant sows is shown in the table below:

2 Dietary nutritional level

The feed for pregnant sows is mainly low-energy and low-protein, but attention should be paid to the comprehensiveness and balance of the diet's nutrition.

Crude protein 12%-13%, digestible energy 2.8-3.0 Mcal/kg, lysine 0.4%-0.5%, calcium 0.6%, phosphorus 0.5%.

3 To give the sow a feeling of fullness and supplement vitamins, while feeding the compound feed, high-quality green fodder or roughage can be provided as well. However, green and rough fodder has high moisture content, large volume and poor palatability, and the gastrointestinal capacity of pregnant sows is limited, so attention should be paid to the processing and preparation of green and rough fodder and to increasing the number of feedings.

4 Feed should not be changed frequently, otherwise it is also unfavorable to pregnant sows.

5 In the early and middle stages of gestation, green and rough fodder should be the main feed, and the crude fiber content of the diet generally should not exceed 10%-12%.

6 Pregnant sows must be supplied with sufficient calcium and phosphorus from the feed, and the ratio should be appropriate; the best calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is 1-1.5:1.

7 Attention must be paid to fully supplying pregnant sows with vitamins A, D and E, because these three vitamins not only guarantee the intense metabolic activities in the pregnant sow's body but can also directly affect fetal development.

8 Undetoxified cottonseed cake and rapeseed cake, silage, starch slurry and starch residue with excessive acidity, and distillers' grains containing more alcohol should all be avoided.

9 Sow feed should be hygienic and of guaranteed quality. Moldy, spoiled, frozen, toxic and strongly irritating feeds must not be used, otherwise they can easily cause miscarriage, stillbirth and weak piglets.