Research Lines

Precision feeding is proposed as an essential approach to improve the efficiency use of nutrients from diets and thus reduces the cost of diets and nutrient excretion. Precision feeding requires a Knowledge of nutritional value of ingredients, nutritional requirement of animals, formulation of diets according to environmental restrictions and the appropriate adjustment of nutrient supply according to the pig’s requirements.
Precision feeding of sows comprises the use of mathematical models combined with technologies that allow the supply of precise quantity and nutritional composition of daily nutrient needs and for each female in a group. During growing phase, it has been estimated that using this system can result in a reduction of 4.6% in the cost of feeding and approximately 38% in nitrogen and phosphorus excretion. Associated to this, the integration of precision feeding techniques in production systems allows real-time monitoring of feeding patterns and animals when it comes to achieving optimal reproductive and productive results, thus improving the sustainability of swine production, animal welfare and economic return.

At all pig production phases, it is detected the formation of social hierarchy, characterized by a clear classification from dominant to subdominant, being evident in groups of pigs kept at low densities. The feeding preference of pigs may vary according to age or physiological stage and, for pigs in production, this factor directly interferes in the dynamics feed consumption, which consequently becomes a limiting factor of meat production, so it is of great importance to understand the feeding preference of the animals as well as the dynamics of consumption in each breeding phase. There are several factors involved in reducing the productive efficiency of pigs, climate is one of the main limiting factors of production, especially in warmer regions, where pigs are under thermal stress by heat and as a consequence, there is a reduction in feed intake and increased water intake. Therefore, some nutritional strategies such as the use of diets with low thermal effect, the use of functional additives and a better understanding of the feeding behavior of females becomes essential to seek for solutions to ease the impacts caused by the climate.

At the post-weaning phase of the pig, comprises some changes in the life of animals that can aggravate weaning stress, such as transportation to the nursery, the change from liquid to solid diet, new environment and new individuals in the group. This whole situation results in drastic reduction of consumption in the first week after weaning and consequently reduction in the daily weight gain of animals or in some cases, up to weight loss and this represents a significant economic loss for the producer. However, this stress can be eased by providing ingredients of greater preference to the piglets, which will serve as motivation to increase the consumption of solid food and thus improve feeding behavior, social and animal welfare and reduce the impact of health problems, such as diarrhea that is a fairly common health problem in the nursery phase.

The current pig diets are no longer restricted to the use of primary raw-materials, which are increasingly being replaced by residues or by-products of the industries, which indicates the need to know their nutritional values. The determination of the digestibility values of feed for pigs has been important to support the formulation of diets for this species. Metabolism studies, on the other hand, have been conducted with pigs of different ages and body weights, in an attempt to reach values that best express the biological value of feed ingredients. Thus, in our laboratory we can conduct digestibility and metabolism studies with pigs, aiming to evaluate how different raw materials and additives impact the digestibility of protein, energy and fibrous ingredients.