What to do if piglets won't eat creep feed? Early supplementary feeding and feed attraction are key

Early supplementary feeding is a stage that cannot be ignored in pig farming, and it is a key step for increasing the weaning weight of suckling piglets. But when first starting to supplement piglets' feed, many inexperienced keepers often run into the problem of piglets refusing to eat creep feed, which gives many keepers a headache, and they do not know how to feed them. Here is an introduction to methods for supplementary feeding of piglets.

1. Timing to start supplementary feeding

Creep feeding is generally carried out 7 days after the piglets are born.

2. Supplementary feeding utensils

Use round piglet feeding troughs, which can be made of cast iron, plastic and rubber.

3. Supplementary feeding methods and steps

1) Before the sow is about to let down milk, place the trough containing creep feed inside, and take it out when the sow begins nursing. Repeating this makes feed attraction faster, and it also reduces waste and saves costs.

2) By taking advantage of pigs' curious and exploratory behavioral habits, the piglets will go near the trough to investigate. If the trough is too far from the piglets or does not attract the piglets' attention, the keeper should place the piglets beside the trough. Usually the piglets will root around in the trough, and occasionally take feed into their mouths.

3) Methods to entice piglets to eat

① Taking advantage of piglets' love of sweet foods, cut sweet fruit into small pieces and mix them with the creep feed to attract them to eat.

② Mix the creep feed into a paste and smear it on the sow's teats, so that the piglets eat the feed while nursing. It can also be mixed into a paste at a water-to-feed ratio of 2:1 and fed to them.

③ Place a few clean goose eggs in the piglets' supplementary feeding trough. Because piglets have exploratory behavior and are interested in foreign objects, they will root at the stones, and unknowingly eat the feed.

④ Hang a plastic bottle of a special color above the supplementary feeding trough. When the piglets root at the bottle, they will smell the feed and develop a desire to eat.

⑤ Smearing feed into the piglets' mouths is the best of the existing methods. The method of smearing feed is: when the piglets are sleeping, the keeper quietly approaches the piglets, uses one hand to open the pig's mouth, and dips a finger of the other hand into paste feed and smears it into the pig's mouth.

4. Precautions

1) Never just put in the trough and then ignore it. If it is left for too long, the piglets will lose interest in the trough, root the feed out of the trough and cause waste, and over time the piglets will also excrete on the trough.

2) Proceed step by step. It must be clear that the goal is to teach the piglets to eat feed, not simply to make the piglets eat feed, so for the first few days just put out a little for the piglets to smell. Generally they can eat feed only after 10 days. Go from less to more and gradually increase the amount.

3) Feed less and add more often. For supplementary feeding of piglets, scatter feed once every 2-3 hours, 4-5 times a day is enough. After the piglets adapt to the creep feed, let them eat freely, add a sufficient amount of feed at fixed times, and promptly remove leftover feed each time you add more.

4) After the feed bag is opened, tie the bag opening tightly in time. The shelf life is generally 45-60 days, to prevent deterioration from moisture absorption. Keep the trough and the environment clean and hygienic to prevent the feed from being contaminated. Be careful to keep the piglets warm.