Wrapping up May: What’s new in the world of pigs? As the international show season approaches, May 2018 brought a host of new innovations to the international...
EU to adapt copper reduction plans for pigs The reduction of copper levels for pigs to 25 mg/kg for all age groups is off the table in the European Union....
Herbs and toys enhancing growing pig welfare Environmental enrichment as well as herbal compounds can help reduce stress in growing pigs and thus increase...
Prices for pig feed reach historic lows in Russia The average price of pig feed in Russia has reached historic lows in December 2017. This has led to higher Feed...
How to improve pig house air scrubbers? The performance of air scrubbers on pig farms can easily be improved, according to recent research in Belgium....
Northern Ireland pig herd shows ‘bounce back’ ability Using more prolific genetics as well as increasing the feed intake to lactating sows has helped boost the...
Research aimed at lowering feed conversion on pig farms Belgian institutes have jointly launched a new research initiative to further optimise Feed Conversion Ratio...
Dutch pig sector at comparative disadvantage Increasingly, costs of pig production in the Netherlands is growing faster in comparison to neighbouring...
Project shows lack of knowledge in pig research Gaps in pig nutrition research have been highlighted by a research project in Northern Ireland that has just...
US: Vaccines and biosecurity to replace antibiotics Increased use of vaccines and better sanitation and biosecurity are the 2 most common changes US pig, cattle and...
Benefits for piglets when using TBCC diet additive Adding 100 or 200 mg/kg of tribasic copper chloride (TBCC) to piglet weaning diets has been observed to be...
Algae solutions for pigs prevail at EPP congress Many players in the Irish agribusiness believe that algae could be at the basis of a more sustainable future for...
Oregano in sow diets beneficial for piglets Piglet performance can be improved when the lactation sows are fed with oregano essential oil in the diet. This...
Pig diets: Porcine plasma or egg yolk antibodies? With spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP), how is pig performance affected when compared to diets containing egg...
Sow health status impacts piglets’ performance The health status of sows is very important for the health and growth performance of their piglets. This became...
Reducing costs with smaller corn particle size Grinding yellow dent corn to a finer particle size can help producers reduce feed costs by enable pigs to derive...
BLOG: Presenting about the P of Pigs I had wanted to talk about the subject of the ‘Fourth P’ for some time. The opportunity arose when I had the...
Duckweed Duckweed is an aquatic plant found in marshes. It has a tremendous capacity for rapid growth, being able to...
Cheap Formulas One of the most common requests I receive is for a set of 'cheap formulas'. Is it really possible to attain...
Buying feed in 2011 – the right way to do it Feed is still the biggest on-cost you have to bear. When so many pig industries have their backs to the profit...
IPVS 2010 Vancouver, Canada – What a spectacular event Vancouver lived up to its reputation of being one of the most stunning cities in the world. It was magnificent,...
Glycerol, a liquid with potential Glycerol is a by-product of biofuel production and it may be used as an energy source in diets for pigs but...
Extrusion: the good, the bad, and the ugly side Extrusion of ingredients and complete diets is a thermal processing method that involves progressively...
Breakthroughs in pig nutrition Last month I was honoured to be part of the conference 'Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition' in Armidale,...
Journées de la Recherche Porcine On February 3 and 4, the French research community gathered in Gare de Lyon under the auspice of INRA to discuss...
Replacing plasma - how? Following my last blog on the use of immunoglobulins from hyper-immunised eggs as a means of controlling...
Dietary electrolyte balance (dEB) When we formulate diets for pigs, little attention is paid usually on minerals, apart from meeting certain...
Wheat versus maize Questions whether maize can replace wheat - or the other way round - are frequently asked. Such concerns...
InraPorc As a field nutritionist working for a major feed company, and now as an independent consulting nutritionist, I...
The vitamin C question This is a quite old question, which has yet to receive a definitive answer! Despite the fact that pigs, like...
Feeding sorghum Sorghum has re-surfaced recently as an alternative cereal, especially in Western Europe, where imports,...
Lactose Specs We must briefly discuss here the issue of lactose specifications in piglet diets. Why? Simply because prices of...
Probiotics in creep feed for piglets With sows being ever more prolific, there is also a growing number of relatively small piglets being born. The...
Better piglet health by enhancing sow diets It is becoming increasingly clear that piglet performance can be increased through providing the right nutrients...
How yeast can help sows to deal with high temperatures Heat stress is not only a problem in tropical countries – also in moderate climates this can have an effect on...
Keep pigs agile to manage the cost-effectiveness of feed Being able to manage all the risks impacting cost-effectiveness of diets is the holy grail of nutrition. But...
Algae extracts to improve piglet gut health At what moment does a piglet need help? At weaning or does protection have to start sooner? Applying a strategy...
Better encapsulated phytogenics improves feed efficiency Limited digestibility is a well-known problem for many pig producers all around the world. A problem that feed...
Does lyso-lecithin improve piglet growth? Does the inclusion of lyso-lecithin in diets make any difference to piglet performance? That was the question...
Is there a universal definition of gut health in pigs? Many companies and institutes speak about it, but it isn’t that easy at all to find a universal definition for...
Taking the next step in sow feeding With ongoing improvements in the genetics of breeding animals, the nutritional requirements of these animals...
Helping the liver to detoxify mycotoxins Mycotoxin strategies have so far focused on binding compounds or detoxifying the compounds by feed additives....
All disease begins in the gut Post-weaning gaps in piglets can easily take 7 to 10 days. Some well-managed farms, however, can contain this to...
Research: Profitably moving away from antibiotics Reducing antibiotics while choosing alternative strategies to ensure animal health can lead to €2.67 more profit...
"We have kept our focus on performance minerals" Zinpro started its business 45 years ago, and throughout all those years has kept its focus on trace minerals....
The changing face of feed quality testing The latest developments in NIR spectroscopy are set to place real-time and in-line analysis of feedstuffs and...
SPC for piglets: Performance and immunity In the search of finding suitable protein sources for weanling nutrition, soy protein concentrate may be a...
Small feed ingredients can make a big impact The role trace minerals have in pig nutrition on the overall well-being and peformance of the pig can be...