Creep feeding is the practice of feeding a solid diet to piglets while they are suckling the sow, preparing their digestive system for weaning. Creep feeding initiates and promotes gut and digestive enzyme development, which enables the piglet to digest nutrients from food sources other than that of milk. This encourages feed intake, which is one of the greatest challenges to post-weaning performance.<\/p>\n
Creep feeding becomes increasingly important and beneficial as weaning age increases. As piglets grow, their demand for nutrients similarly grows and with increasing age this demand outstrips the capacity of the sow to supply them, as the sow\u2019s milk yield peaks at around three weeks and then slowly declines.<\/p>\n
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Basics of Good Creep Feeding<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep creep feed fresh and clean and out of reach of the sow<\/p>\n Start creep feeding at seven to 10 days of age, or according to the manufacturer’s recommendations<\/p>\n Begin by offering creep on a flat surface, for example, a shallow tray (heavy metal or plastic trays that can hook into the slats)<\/p>\n Place trays close to the piglets but not under direct heat as this will turn the feed stale too quickly; also, keep feed away from the dunging area<\/p>\n Begin with very small amounts replaced at least twice a day, preferably more. Always remove all uneaten creep; only unmedicated waste creep can be fed to the sow<\/p>\n Offer creep when the sows are feeding as piglets are active and unlikely to be suckled for some time<\/p>\n Do not overfeed – feed to appetite. Litters often eat little and then suddenly begin to eat increasing amounts<\/p>\n Introduce small troughs or top up the trays more often if litters are eating well. Clean any fouled trays or troughs<\/p>\n Store creep feed in a cool place and always close bags to prevent feed taking up the farrowing house odours and\/or becoming rancid<\/p>\n Be committed: creep feeding is more successful the more time and effort is devoted to it. Remember the importance of the sow: it is crucial to maximise milk yield, she will be providing the majority of the piglet’s nutrition.<\/p>\n Utilisation of creep feed should always be considered as a supplement for increased benefit rather than a replacement for milk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Creep feeding is the practice of feeding a solid diet to piglets while they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":4266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pigs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113234,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4265\/revisions\/113234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}