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Report no. 566


Nuria Canibe Inge Dorthe Hansen
25.07.2002
Fermented liquid feed for finishers – mixed on-farm with whey not containing formic acid

Abstract
This trial studied fermented liquid feed mixed on-farm.

The trial was carried out in one herd and comprised the following two groups:

Group 1(control):

Traditional (non-fermented) liquid feed – mixed on-farm with whey containing formic acid

Group 2 (test):

Fermented liquid feed – mixed on-farm with whey not containing formic acid and with an addition of a mineral feed mix incl. amino acids after fermentation of the basic mix

The trial comprised 60 blocks (replicates) and a total of approx. 1,900 pigs per group. The production results were recorded for the period from transfer to the finisher unit when they weighed approx. 41 kg and until slaughter when they weighed approx. 106 kg.

The analyses of the amino acids revealed that there was no significant loss of synthetic methionine during fermentation in the pipelines in neither the control feed nor the test feed. The content of synthetic lysine in the feed was too low to assess if a loss occurred during fermentation in the pipelines. As the mineral feed mix was added immediately before feeding, no loss could occur of synthetic amino acids in the fermentation tank.

The trial showed that fermentation of the entire diet for finishers except the mineral feed mix reduced the productivity by 5% compared with the control group, corresponding to DKK40 per place unit annually using the same feed price in both groups. This difference was significant. The reduced productivity was caused by a reduced feed intake (0.15 FUp/day) and thereby reduced gain (43 g/day) in the pigs given fermented liquid feed compared with pigs given traditional (non-fermented) feed mixed on-farm. The pigs in the test group had a higher meat percentage (0.3 percentage units) and a marginally better feed conversion (0.02 FUp/kg gain) compared with the control pigs, which was probably due to the reduced gain in the test group.

There were no treatments for diarrhoea in the trial period and there were no differences between the groups in mortality. The faeces texture was normal in both groups.

There was no off-taste in the meat as a consequence of the fermentation.

On the basis of these results, it cannot be recommended to ferment liquid feed mixed on-farm for finishers even if the mineral mix containing synthetic amino acids is added after fermentation. It can, however, be recommended to ferment the grain in liquid feed for finishers, cf. a previous trial (Report no. 547, the National Committee for Pig Production).
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