A comparison of wet or dry single-space feeders : their effects on growing pig performance, influence of meal or pelleted feed

Four different feeding-systems were compared in three trials :NR-G : dry feeder and pellets — NR-F : dry feeder and meal — NS-G : wet feeder and pellets — NS-F : wet feeder and meal.Each trial used 128 pigs fed ad libitum from 30 kg to 110 kg.Pigs fed on a pelleted diet had a feed conversion ratio (F.C.R.) which was 5 % more efficient than those fed a meal diet. The poorer F.C.R. obtained with meal was not improved compared to pellets if the two forms of diet were given by wet feeder (-6 %) or dry feeder (-4 %). However, dry feeding of the meal feed produced better quality carcasses (+1% lean meat percentage) compared to pellets; this was not confirmed when the two types of feed were given in the wet the form.Pellets, given either in the dry or the wet form gave the same results for all criteria studied.Meal feeding by wet feeder, compared with the dry feeder, increased daily feed consumption (+6 %), without any noticeably improvement in growth rate (+2 %), and thus it worsened F.C.R. in two out of three trials (+4 % and +5 %). Moreover carcass quality was poorer with a lower lean meat percentage (-1.3 points).With the wet feeder the mean daily water intake per pig decreased by 21 % for pellets, but by only 11 % with meal compared to the dry feeder.It should be borne in mind that if meal is used, which is the case for home-mixing, the wet feeder does not counteract the low F.C.R. of meal compared to pellets, and it sometimes even reduces carcass quality.A computerised wet feeding system gives a F.C.R. closer to that obtained with pellets and allows better control of the daily allowance of feed.Such comparisons should not be limited to the technical aspects of the systems one must also take into account the price of the different machines, the cost of pelleting, and the impact of a variation in different parameters on production economics.