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Report no. 635Marlene Sparre Ibsen 18.12.2003
Prevalence of diarrhoea in growers and finishers in relation to uncontrolled fermentation of liquid feed
Abstract
The liquid feed was not fermented in actual fermentation tanks
in any of the herds. Thus, the uncontrolled fermentation took place
in the mixing tanks and pipelines of traditional liquid feeding
systems. This report focuses on the questions dealing with the herd
parameters that were estimated to be of high relevance to the
analysis of liquid feed and prevalence of diarrhoea. These herd
parameters are:
The results of the questionnaire show that the pH and the temperature of the liquid feed probably influence the prevalence of diarrhoea in growers and finishers. An increasing pH in the liquid feed resulted in a decrease in the number of herds that never experienced diarrhoea. The aim should therefore be to have a low pH in the liquid feed to reduce the risk of diarrhoea. However, other studies have shown that pH in the liquid feed should not be below 4.5 as that may result in a poor feed intake. Studies have furthermore shown that a low pH in the liquid feed, which is caused by fermentation, could result in more loose manure that could be mistaken for diarrhoea. The temperature of the liquid feed is also important as an increased temperature during fermentation results in an increased fermentation speed. The feed will thereby be more fermented and have a lower pH at feeding. There was no correlation between the prevalence of diarrhoea among growers and finishers and the size of the herds. There was no correlation either between the prevalence of diarrhoea and the per cent of remains of liquid feed in the pipelines. |
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