Pre-harvest recommendations
Published: 2023-06-28
To help you maintain the high production productivity in the pig sections during the period from July to September we have gathered some main recommendations.
Farmers around Europe is right now either preparing for the harvest season or is already harvesting.
We have seen hot days already and can probably expect a few more months with high temperatures. Hot weather can cause challenges - especially for sows - but also weaners and finishers are exposed to high temperatures. Even if you do not add Betain to your feed mixes – it is still relevant. It helps to avoid heat stress during the hot period by preventing dehydration, which is crucial especially for lactating sows that need to keep a high feed intake and a good milk yield.
In addition to heat stress during the summer challenges often appear in the production with fresh grain poisoning and toxin contamination.
At Vilomix we recommend to use the toxin binder X-Bond preventively until the level of contamination is known. The challenges with new grain poisoning is based in that there is still activity of certain enzymes in the freshly harvested grain. The activity of the enzymes causes free radical formation and thus destroys the feed's content of essential fatty acids. Ultimately, it has an impact on the feed's natural content of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin C, as these are partially broken down and destroyed.
At Vilomix we recommend to use the toxin binder X-Bond preventively until the level of contamination is known. The challenges with new grain poisoning is based in that there is still activity of certain enzymes in the freshly harvested grain. The activity of the enzymes causes free radical formation and thus destroys the feed's content of essential fatty acids. Ultimately, it has an impact on the feed's natural content of vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin C, as these are partially broken down and destroyed.
Reduced growth, increased feed consumption, reproduction problems among sows and sudden deaths are often seen in herds as a consequence
What is X-Bond?
Vilomix has developed X-Bond® to minimize and prevent the risk of dramatic low pig growth and development - with lost earnings for farmers as a result.
To prevent problems in your herd with fresh grain poisoning, we recommend that you add extra antioxidant or vitamin E.
- Add antioxidant – it is the cheapest and most effective solution to avoid oxidation and formation of harmful free radicals and new grain poisoning of the animals
- Add additionally E-vitamin to the mineral feed (50-100 mg E vitamin per kg finished feed) or use Solvita products which you can mix directly into feed
Solvita E 50 for own addition. Recommended dosage: 1 kg/ton
Vitamin E: 50,000 mg/kg (50 mg/kg in finished feed)
Solvita E 25 for own addition. Recommended dosage: 2 kg/ton
Vitamin E: 25,000 mg/kg (50 mg/kg in finished feed at the recommended dosage)
Any questions?
Please contact your Vilomix nutritionist in pigs
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