Analysis of Why a Shorter Rearing Period Is Better for Growing-Finishing Pigs

Under good feeding and management conditions, lean-type pigs generally need 100 to 120 days to go from 20 kg to the market weight of 100 kg. In China's intensive and standardized @#@227@#@ farms, it generally takes about 110 days to go from 20 kg to 100 kg, and the age of pigs from birth to the market weight of 100 kg is 160 to 180 days, greatly shortening the finishing period. The benefits of this are as follows. 1. High daily gain and high feed efficiency. Lean-type pigs grow quickly. If a complete feed with comprehensive nutrition is provided, their productivity potential can be fully brought out, especially before reaching 50 kg body weight; their nutritional level should be raised, and with free access to feed, the daily gain can generally reach 600 to 700 g, and higher values can reach 700 to 800 g. After reaching 100 kg body weight, in order to improve lean meat percentage and feed efficiency, feeding can be appropriately restricted; although the daily gain declines slightly, economic returns are high. According to experiments, during the live pig period from 20 kg to 50 kg, as digestible energy and feed intake increase, daily gain increases, while feed conversion ratio remains basically unchanged. Specifically, when the average daily feed intake is 1.0 kg, 1.40 kg, 1.70 kg, 2.0 kg and 2.36 kg respectively, the daily gains are 420 g, 560 g, 680 g, 780 g and 900 g respectively; the feed required per unit of gain is 2.4, 2.5, 2.5, 2.6 and 2650 to g0 respectively. When the daily feed intake of pigs with 0 kg live weight is 1.63 kg, 1.95 kg, 2.30 kg and 2.88 kg, the daily gains are 418 g, 516 g, 793 g and 834 g respectively; the feed-to-meat ratios are 3.92, 3.39, 2.9 and 3.46 platinum respectively. From this it can be seen that when daily feed intake is 2.3 kg, both daily gain and feed efficiency are high. Shortening the finishing period and choosing a suitable live weight at market gives high feed utilization. For example, from 20 kg to market live weights of 90 kg, 110 kg and 130 kg respectively, the feed-to-meat ratios are 3.3, 3.7 and 4.1 respectively. 2. Reduced maintenance. Because the rearing period is short and the nutritional level is high, the proportion of nutrients used for maintenance decreases, while the portion used for production increases. Maintenance is the amount of feed required when a pig's body weight neither increases nor decreases; it is feed consumption that produces no product. The longer the rearing time, the more maintenance is required. According to research, for pigs raised from 20 kg to 90 kg, the average daily feed used for maintenance is 0; about 80 kg; if the rearing period is 100 days, the feed consumed for maintenance is about 80 kg; if the rearing period is 150 days, then about 120 kg. 3. High input-output ratio, fast capital turnover and high economic returns. Pig production is commodity production, and ultimately it must be reflected in the highest economic returns within a certain period. If the rearing period from 20 kg to 90 kg is 100 days, 3.5 batches can be raised per year; if the rearing period is 150 days, then the annual production is 2.4 batches.