Drinking Water Management for Pigs

1 Drinking Water Needs

Drinking water and feed intake are equally important, providing too much or too little drinking water will lead to reduced feed intake and increased feed-to-meat ratio.

Drinking water must be kept clean and hygienic at all times. The water temperature is best kept at 23-28°C. Table 1 lists the amount of water required per kg of dry feed consumed.

It is recommended to provide farrowing sows with an additional supply of drinking water around farrowing and in the first few days after piglets are born. This is to meet the need for liquid food at the beginning of lactation while maintaining normal lactation.

Sick pigs also require special care and an extra supply of drinking water.

2 Drinking Water Supply For Suckling Piglets

Drinking water supply during this period must meet the following requirements:

· Drinking water is always kept clean and hygienic.

·When using nipple drinkers, piglets must learn how to use them, and the amount of drinking water must be controlled.

·The feed must be kept dry to prevent spoilage in a short period of time.

· Nipple drinkers must be installed above the slats.

Advantages of drinking water for lactating piglets:

· Prevent the lack of fluid food.

 · In the case of insufficient lactation in sows (angalactia, hypolactation, mastitis), the liquid food needs of piglets are still met.

· Feed supplementation needs to match drinking water capacity.

When piglets are not getting enough milk, or when there is a severe loss of body fluids (such as diarrhea), in order to prevent dehydration and loss of electrolytes and nutrients, glucose electrolyte solution can be used for rehydration. This solution cannot replace other food supplies, and rehydration fluids should be kept fresh and given in divided doses each day.

Example electrolyte formulation:

Each 1000g powder contains: Na2CO3 100g; NaCl 100g; KCl 60g; glucose 740g

(Each 50g of powder is diluted with 2L of water).

3 Drinking Water Supply

There are many methods of water supply, and the factors that affect water supply are as follows:

· Hygiene: Avoid contamination of drinking water by feces, urine, food particles, etc.

• Make sure the pigs are getting enough water to meet their needs.

·Prevent pigs from drinking too much water

·Prevent water from splashing and soaking the seating area

·Although avoid drinking water overflowing the sink, prevent the feces from becoming watery and thin

All equipment in the water supply system should be checked frequently

3.1 wet mix

·According to the instructions, determine the mixing amount.

·Appropriately provide additional drinking water according to the needs of the surrounding environment (such as high temperature, disease).

· Avoid uneven mixing of water and feed ingredients.

·Clean water pipes and other equipment after feeding each time.

· Table 2 gives the ratio of water to material.

3.3 Tank water supply

·When there is no feed in the trough, drinking water can be provided to prevent the feed from being washed away.

· Control the amount of water you drink every day, and make appropriate adjustments if necessary.

3.3 Sink water supply

 Prevent pollution

3.4 Water supply for trough and nipple drinking fountains

• Provide a nipple drinker for each pig.

·When installing a nipple drinking fountain, there should be no food residue behind the nipple pipe and water pipe to prevent the water pipe from being blocked.

After feeding, the trough should be open for a long enough time to ensure that the pigs can get enough drinking water (the replacement pigs/finishing pigs should be open for about 1 hour)

• Water supply should be restricted for empty and pregnant sows to prevent spillage (no drinking water from 1.5 hours after feeding until the next feeding).

·The height from the nipple of the sink to the bottom of the trough: 15cm for sows; 10cm for gilts/finishing pigs.

3.5 duckbill drinking fountain water supply

·Water fountains are installed where pigs can easily reach:

- Drinker height adjustable.

- Drinkers for sows should be installed above the water trough.

- Drinkers in the gilt/finishing pen should be fixed to the pen.

·The drinking fountain should be adjusted to the correct height and angle (Table 3).

· Drinking fountains should be installed above slatted slats or troughs to prevent wetting of rest areas.

• Drinkers should be appropriate for the type of pig and drinking water supply system.

·Water fountains should be inspected regularly to see if the running water is normal and if there is any damage or blockage (Table 4).

4 Drinking water quality standards

In order to ensure the health and normal production of pigs, it is necessary to enable pigs to take in enough high-quality drinking water.

It is best to use tap water. If ground water or surface water is used, the water quality should be tested regularly (twice/year).

Rules for taking water samples:

·Use clean and sterilized bottles to take samples, and seal the water samples immediately after taking them.

• When taking surface water samples, the bottle should be filled directly below the surface of the water.

• When sampling groundwater, keep the water flowing until the sampling bottle is full. The same is true when sampling water from a tap or nipple drinker.

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