Exploring the feeding behavior adaptions of growing pigs reared under conventional and precision feeding technique: heat stress and thermoneutral conditions

• Grant number: 17/10278-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: June 19, 2017
• End date: June 18, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Hauschild
• Grantee: Luan Sousa dos Santos
• Supervisor: Candido Pomar
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/05241-1 - Precision-feeding system as alternative for pig production in hot climate countries, BP.DR

Abstract

The proposal of understanding the influence of feeding techniques in different thermal conditions was previously suggested in the current doctoral project n° 2015/05241-1. The collaboration between the Agrifood - Canada and FCAV-Unesp has been very important in advancing on the development of the proposed precision feeding system. Furthermore, meal pattern can be an immediate response when inadequate environmental and nutritional situation occurs. For this reason, this proposal will allow to evaluate the precision nutrition effects over the feeding behavior of growing pigs reared in thermoneutral and heat stress conditions. Data of feeding behavior from previous experiment at the Swine Research Facility of Sao Paulo State University, Brazil, granted by project n° 2012/03781-0 will be used. The experiment treatments consisted of two feeding programs (conventional two-phase, CONV; and daily precision-feeding, PREC) under two thermal conditions (thermoneutral: TN, 23°C; and high temperature: HT, 30°C) on growth performance of pigs in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The meal pattern will be evaluated from individual continuously records performed by four Automatic and Intelligent Precision Feeders (AIPF). From the data compilation will be possible to evaluate the number of meals, feed intake per meal (g), interval between meals (min), feeding time per meal (min) and feed consumption rate (g/min) for each animal in real time. The obtained results will be analyzed as a mixed model and different approaches will be considered between meal patterns, time of the day and weight of animals. The results from this proposal will be important to clarify the meal pattern of pigs, assisting real time decisions to improve the production conditions. (AU)