The correlates of individual variation in the ontogeny of solid food consumption in pigs /

In order to describe the ontogeny of solid food consumption by pigs and determine its influence on weight gain, before and after an abrupt weaning at 4 weeks of age, individual feed consumption was measured using a technique that combined load cells and video images. Feed consumption varied greatly both between and within litters. Within litters, consumption was positively correlated with birth weight, and with early weight gains. This suggests that greater feed intake was typical of larger and more mature pigs rather than reflecting compensation for poor milk intake by smaller litter-mates. Within-litter differences in weight gain during the two weeks after weaning were positively correlated with birth weight but not correlated with pre-weaning creep feed intake. Creep feed intake appeared to contribute to pre-weaning gains and these were correlated with post-weaning gains; however a more direct affect on post-weaning gain could not be detected