Drinking water of great importance for weaned piglets

Piglets that have just been weaned need plenty of fresh, clean water. The piglets no longer get fluids through milk, but have to absorb everything through the drinking nipples. If they do not do this sufficiently, they will also eat less and therefore grow slower [1]. How can you ensure that your weaned piglets get enough water?

In this blog, you will read about:

• Drinking nipples or drinking bowls
• Watering system
• Supplementary feeding
• Weaning stress
• Maintaining water quality

Drinking Nipples or Drinking Bowls

Water can be offered via nipple drinkers or drinking bowls. When nipple drinkers are used, it is important to install them with the right flow and at the right height. If the drinking nipple is not at the right level, the piglet will not be able to adopt a good drinking position. This results in increased spillage. Also make sure the water flow is set correctly. If the water release is too fast, the water will spray into the mouth and end up in the nose. As a result, the piglet experiences drinking water as unpleasant. A nipple that delivers 500 millilitres per minute is good. However, piglets should have a good swallowing capacity. When piglets younger than four weeks are weaned, 250 millilitres is better. It is also important that enough nipple drinkers are available. One drinking nipple per 10 piglets is the minimum. If drinking cups are used, make sure that the water quality in the cups is well maintained. Water remains in the drip tray. This is where bacteria, viruses, moulds and yeasts get all the space they need to grow. To ensure water quality, the farmer should clean and disinfect each tray daily. Keep in mind that this is a time-consuming task [2].

Water System

Newly weaned piglets still drink very little, which means the flow rate in the pipes is low. In addition, it is often very warm in a rearing unit, especially when piglets are laid. This causes the water in the pipes to heat up. This stimulates the growth of bacteria and fungi. To prevent this growth, a well-constructed water system is important. In addition, growth can be prevented by adding a disinfectant to the water [2].

Supplementary feed

On the last day with the sow, piglets still get at least 0.8 litres of fluid through milk. After weaning, piglets should get enough fluids by drinking water. If they don't drink enough, they won't eat enough. So try to encourage drinking water as much as possible. One option to stimulate drinking is by feeding water as a supplement. By placing a bowl with water in the house in addition to drinking from the drinking nipples or drinking bowls from the water system, the piglets can drink together like they did with the sow. This makes it easier to control water intake. Do this for about five to seven days, reducing the amount on the last days. It is important that the water in the bowl is the same as the water in the drinking water system. There should be no taste difference between these so that the transition is smooth [3]. The water intake of piglets receiving supplementary feed was mapped by means of an experiment. Piglets were placed in pens with only drinking nipples. One nipple per ten piglets provided 500 millilitres per minute. This showed that in the six days after weaning, a piglet consumed an average of 3.7 litres of water. In another pen, both nipples and a bowl were present. Here, a piglet took in an average of 4.1 litres of water in the same period [4].

Weaning stress

At weaning, piglets may experience some degree of weaning stress. This has an impact on health and resistance. Weaning stress comes from, among other things, switching to solid feed. Immunities from milk are also dropped, which affects the piglets' immune system. Optimising conditions both in the farrowing pen and after weaning improves the transition [5].

Maintaining water quality

Weaned piglets benefit greatly from good quality drinking water. This means that water, firstly, is palatable, secondly, does not contain harmful substances and, thirdly, is always available. Both chemical and microbiological quality play a role in these requirements. These requirements can be found on the IKB Pig site [6]. As described above, hot pipes or the use of drinking troughs influence the microbiological quality of the water. Due to the growth of bacteria and fungi, biofilm growth can occur in the pipes. Biofilm consists of bacteria that adhere to the pipes. This causes the pipes to constrict and prevents the flow of water. As a result, the flow through the nipples no longer meets the desired speed. In addition, the spread of bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeasts through the water leads to disease in the piglets. The piglets are especially susceptible to this after weaning if there is weaning stress. This makes them extra susceptible to weaning diarrhoea caused by E.coli, for example [7].

You can prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi and the formation of biofilm by disinfecting the water. This is possible in a safe and sustainable way with the Watter system. The Watter system produces a disinfectant based on hypochlorous acid (HOCl). The agent is produced from only water, salt and electricity and can be used in low concentrations. Through the Watter system, drinking water quality is significantly improved.

References

1. https://www.nieuweoogst.nl/nieuws/2021/04/09/hycare-specialist-drinken-eerste-zorg-na-spenen-big
2. https://www.nieuweoogst.nl/nieuws/2019/08/19/schoon-drinkwater-helpt-biggen-stap-verder
3. https://www.nieuweoogst.nl/nieuws/2021/04/12/na-spenen-eerst-water-rest-komt-later
4. https://www.varkens.nl/nieuws/2023/10/17/meten-wateropname-gespeende-big-is-weten
5. https://www.pigbusiness.nl/artikel/8593-tips-voor-het-spenen-van-biggen-1/
6. https://www.ikbvarken.nl/over-ikb-varken/drinkwater/
7. https://varkensartsen.nl/2018/01/09/speendiarree/