Sow nutrition technical meeting Lallemand: Denmark

About 150 delegates, from approximately 20 countries, including the USA and Brazil, and representing both farmers and feed industry representatives joined in to listen to the various speakers.

The conference was kicked off by Prof Dr Knud Erik Bach Knudsen, from Aarhus University’s Research Centre at Foulum, Denmark. He informed his audience about the effect several different diets can have on energy uptake in the gastro-intestinal tract and for that reason showed results from sugars, soluble polysaccharides and insoluble polysaccharides.

In his view, due to their unique energy uptake qualities in the large intestine, sows are better off being fed diets containing large amounts of fibre, as it will take them longer to digest – hence a longer period of satiety and relative peace and quiet in a loose sow housing surroundings is created.

Moving forward, his colleague at Foulum, Dr Nuria Canibe, explained about the several microflora present in the pig’s gut, what their function is in the fermentation process and how this can be measured by having some canulated pigs – a research method not uncommon in cattle.

Dr Yannig Le Treut, Lallemand, wrapped the pre-lunch session up by talking about constipation in sows – and how sow constipation can have a severe effect on both the sow’s and the piglet’s performance.

The company’s research focuses on the use of the yeast product Levucell SB (Saccharomyces boulardii) in gestating sows in order to reduce stress in sows around farrowing and increase piglet vitality after birth. Piglet vitality could be assessed by assessing piglet characteristics in the first 15 seconds of its life, Le Treut said: no breathing, breathing, moving, trying to stand up.

Dr Torben Jensen, swine nutritionist from Vestjyllands Andel, a Danish feed company, explained that his company chose to use rolled products, e.g. rolled barley – and also this yeast product, to enhance the company’s pig compound feed.

Next on stage was Kim Heiselberg, a Danish pig producer from Hedegaard Farms, in the West of Jutland, having 730 sows and approximately 4,000 slaughter pigs. His farm suffered from 12.8% of dead sows but he managed to bring this down to 8% using both a different feed structure and the yeast product in his home-mixing.

From Germany came Dr Andreas Steinbeck, on behalf of Dr Eckel, distributor of Lallemand products in Germany. He focused on the use of the yeast in piglets as well.

He explained in which moments of the pig cycle the yeast product could be used, and emphasised that the yeast product supports farm veterinary measures and adheres to flagellate bacteria (E.coli) and neutralise toxins like C.difficile in the hindgut.

Wrapping up, Dr Pascal Raoul from Lallemand Nutrition in France, said he is positive that probiotics are now ‘teenagers’ and that these products in his view have reached the stage of maturity.