Animal Health & Nutrition

Pig Nutrition

Feed Smart. Grow Big. Win More.

Feed is where the money goes and where your results come from. In pig farming, nutrition isn’t just a science; it’s strategy, and at Farmer’s Choice, we’ll help you get it right.

A strong nutrition program unlocks your pigs’ genetic potential, drives healthy growth, cuts down on feed waste, and ultimately improves your profits.

What Drives Profit in Pig Farming?

Three things make or break a pig operation:

The animal
(genetics, health, and breed)

How you manage
(housing, hygiene, environment)

What you feed
(quality, quantity, and timing)

Get all three working together, and you’ve got a system that performs.

Nutrition Basics Every Farmer Should Know

More than 70% of your production cost is feed. The goal is to feed smart, maximize daily gain, minimize cost per kg, and make every meal count.

Younger pigs need more protein and energy. Fast-growing breeds (like Duroc, Landrace, and Large White) also need more than slower-growing types. Environment, weight, and genetics all matter.

  • Energy: The biggest expense. Pigs adjust intake based on energy density, fiber, and environment.
  • Proteins & Amino Acids: Essential for growth and reproduction. The more efficient your pigs, the higher the amino acid demand.
  • Macro Minerals: Calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chloride. Crucial for bones, growth, and metabolism.
  • Water: Often overlooked, but critical. Requirements range from 0.6L/day for piglets to 32L/day for lactating sows.

Trace minerals like: zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and, vitamins like: A, D, E, and B complex support growth, immunity, and reproduction.

Deficiency? Performance drops. Excess? Wasted feed and possible toxicity.

From weaned piglets to pregnant sows, every class has specific feeding goals:

  • Weaners: High digestibility, boost early intake
  • Growers & Finishers: Focus on cost-efficient gains
  • Pregnant Sows: Avoid overfeeding—target steady growth, not fat
  • Lactating Sows: Minimize weight loss, maximize milk, reduce piglet mortality
  • Weaned Sows: Rebuild reserves and support ovulation for the next litter
  • Adjust feed by body condition (BCS)
  • Don’t skip meals during critical windows
  • Use quality-controlled feed: store it right, process it well
  • Invest in proper feeder design to minimize waste
  • Train staff to monitor intake, body condition, and health
  • Use ad-lib feeders for social eaters like pigs
  • Don’t overcrowd troughs. If one pig eats, they all instinctively follow
  • Adjust feeding frequency by age and housing
  • Match diets to developmental stages for max performance

Biosecurity In Pig Farming

A set of practices, measures and policies aimed at preventing entrance of disease causing agent inside the pig farm or preventing spread of infections within the same farm

Principals of Biosecurity

Bio-exclusion; prevention of disease introduction (external biosecurity measures)

Bio-containment; prevention of disease spread within the same farms, group of animals and different animals (internal)

How Are Diseases Spread???

Understanding disease transmission is central to designing proper biosecurity protocols

Direct transmission – animal to animal contact

Indirect – contact with fomites (inanimate objects), vectors (rodents, birds, insects, domestic animals)

Impact of Diseases in a Pig Farm

  • Mortalities – African Swine Fever, Foot and Mouth, Swine Influenza
  • Slow growth rates
  • High veterinary and treatment costs
  • Reproductive issues like infertility, reduced litter sizes
  • Disruption of supply chains – quarantine and movement restrictions
  • Trade restrictions
  • Carcass contaminations
  • Zoonosis

Biosecurity Levels in Different Production Systems

Designing Biosecurity Protocols

Critical they cover all routes of disease transmission. Which include:

  • Farm staff – resident at the farm
  • Visitors – source
  • When selling pigs – brokers??
  • Going off farm to buy supplies / receiving supplies – feeds
  • Replacement breeding stock – source (transboundary diseases)
  • Introduction of new animals – quarantine and mixing
  • On-farm Pig flow management practices (all-in-all-out)
  • Control of rodents, birds, wildlife and other pests
  • Manure management
  • Dead stock disposal

Ready to set up your farm the right way?

Get the complete biosecurity guide, including a full disease protocol, checklists, outbreak management plans, and setup tips for different farm sizes.