Round feeding dish good for piglets

Supplying dry feed to piglets is essential to increase the intestinal absorption capacity of the animals. In addition, a good feed intake before weaning can ensure that a weaning dip after weaning is prevented. The way the feed is supplied is also essential.

De Heus therefore wanted to know whether the shape of the feeding dish has an effect on feed intake. 112 litters were involved in the test. Half of them received feed in the farrowing crate via a round feeding dish, the other half received the feed in a square shaped feeding dish. In both groups, the feed intake was measured from day 5 after birth till the moment of weaning.

The group with the square shaped feeding dishes ate on average 292 grams per day. In the group with the round shaped feeding dish, this was 46% higher (426 grams per day). De Heus therefore concludes that it can certainly pay off (in terms of technical results) to install a well-designed feeding dish in the farrowing crate.