(2002) Snell, Hinrich; Hofsommer, Jürgen; Van den Weghe, Herman
During two rearing periods, a newly developed automatic interval fee- ding mash dispenser was compared with a conventional automatic tube mash dispenser with regard to its suitability for piglet rearing. The use of the automatic interval mash dispenser did not lead to im- proved rearing performance. Feed consumption, however, increased. The design of the feed trough as well as the kind of feed metering must be dis- cussed as possible reasons. Animal behaviour was also significantly influenced by the feeding sys- tem. At the automatic tube feed dispenser, more eating processes were observed, and fewer animals showed interest in eating without actually doing it. The results of the first rearing period indicate that increased aggression must be expected if the setting of automatic interval feeding mash dispensers is relatively restrictive.
