Use of Buttermilk and Skimmed Milk Powders for Pig Feeding

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 89, Issue 5, 15 November 1954, Page 443

Use of Buttermilk and Skimmed Milk Powders for Pig Feeding

MARKETS for both buttermilk and skimmed milk powders have weakened seriously over the past year and this has brought these high-quality feeds within the scope of the pig producer. Many farmers have now had successful experience of the use of these foods, and in this article A. Longwill, Superintendent, Pig Industry, Department of Agriculture, Wellington, deals with their use in pig feeding and considerations which will govern the choice of concentrate feeds , for this purpose.

THOUGH it is considered that it would never be economic to process skimmed milk or buttermilk into powder to make a storable pig food, as against using the liquid when available on the farm, there are occasions when the pig producer will be encouraged to consider the use of powder as a pig food. These occasions will be: — 1. When the market for these powders is weak and prices are com-

parable with those for other stock foods. 2. When a grade of the powders unfit for human consumption is available at a reasonable price. 3. When a special starter food for the creep or early weaning is required. 4. For other special purposes, such as when a sow dies and leaves a young litter which requires “artificial” milk. Apart from the two last-named purposes, which necessitate the use of

milk proteins rather than others, such as those supplied in meat meal, the question of whether milk powders should be used in pig feeding is primarily an economic one. Table 1 shows the digestible nutrients of milk powders and other feeds available to the pig producer and, under the heading of total, digestible nutrients, a figure on which the feeding values for pigs are best compared. T.d.n. per cent, of digestible crude protein + per cent, of digestible carbohydrates -J---per cent, of digestible fibre + (per cent, of digestible oil X 2.3). In the table at left the nutritive ratio (column 7) is the ratio of protein equivalent (a figure intermediate between digestible crude protein and digestible pure protein which makes allowance for the different nature of the proteins in the former) to carbohydrate equivalent (which includes the figures in columns (4) and (5) in the above table as well as that in column (3)). Those foods rich in protein (with a nutritive ratio narrower than 1 : 4) are specially valuable in the rations of young pigs and nursing sows and can be used in mixtures with low-protein foods, such as sugar beet, whey, or cereals, to provide a well-balanced food for pigs, which should have a nutritive ratio varying from 1: 4 (young pigs and sows) to 1 : 8 for fattening pigs. The feeding value obtained in practice from any food will be governed

by the balance attained in the diet fed and its suitability for the animal at different stages of development. It has been shown, for instance, that skimmed milk when fed as the main feed with lib. of meal supplements per pig per day has a value lower than shown in the table, as it takes 1 gallon (101 b. to equate in feed value 11b. of barley meal. The full value of skimmed milk will probably be obtained only if the milk is fed at a much lower level and the nutritive ratio of the whole diet is within the range quoted above. In working out the price one can afford to pay for milk powders it will be best normally to compare their price with that of meat meal (the most readily available protein concentrate). If meat meal costs £X per ton, buttermilk powder should, for economic use, be available at the same point for 94 £(X X —)• For the special purposes 79 mentioned under 3 and 4 on page 443 somewhat higher prices than that arrived at by this calculation would be warranted. Storage of Milk, Powders The approximate composition of buttermilk powder, skimmed milk powder, and good quality meat meal are given in Table 2. The extremely low moisture content of milk powders when packed is not retained for long when the containers are opened. Skimmed milk powders, which are. low in both fat and moisture, store well provided they are kept in dry conditions. Buttermilk powders, with their 10 per cent, of fat, are much more liable to spoilage. The stock feed grades, which tend to come from the more acid cream buttermilks, are especially liable to spoilage, because the lactic acid or sodium or calcium lactate they contain takes up moisture readily. TABLE composition OF AVERAGE BUTTERMILK POWDER COMPARED WITH COMPOSITION OF SKIMMED MILK POWDER AND A GOOD MEAT MEAL Butter- Skimmed „ ... t milk milk Meat constituent powder powder meal . . ■ per cent, per cent, per cent. Moisture .. .. 4.0 3.2 10.0 £ at . . •• •• 10.0 0.9 18.0 Protein .. .. 35.0 39.0 67.0 Lactose .. .. 42.2 47 ♦Acidity .. .. 0.8 14 Asl •• 8-0 8-0 5.0

Absorption of Moisture The rate of absorption of moisture by buttermilk powder is influenced by several factors besides that of lactic acid content. These are: (a) The relative humidity of the air in the store. (b) Temperature of storage. The store should be kept as cool as possible. (c) The permeability of the packaging material to moisture. This is normally given proper attention at the factory

when the powder is packed, but sewn seams allow more moisture to pass than do properly sealed plastic liners. Damage to containers will allow the powder to take up moisture rapidly, (d) Conditions of storage. Storage in a tight stack in a closed store room helps to reduce water absorption, owing to the protection the packages afford one another and to the dehydrating effect of the powder itself on the atmosphere.

Good conditions for storage of buttermilk powders could not readily be achieved on the farm and therefore this food should be obtained regularly in small quantities rather than in ton, or even j ton, lots.

Feeding Milk Powders

The milk powders may be fed dry or re-constituted with water as a liquid milk. As they are liable to become lumpy unless particular care is taken to add the powder evenly and slowly with constant stirring, it is best if the mixing is done some time before feeding. Hasty mixing is then avoided and a satisfactory re-constitution, without lumps, can be ensured.

However, it is easier and cleaner to mix the powder dry with crushed oats or barley meal in the proportion of 1 part of milk powder to 1 part of crushed oats or barley for creep feeding and milking sows and 1 : 4 or more for other pigs. The trough in which dry meal is fed should be appropriate to the size of the pigs using it, low sided so that they can eat without getting their front feet in the trough, and placed so that they cannot get into it and waste a considerable proportion of the expensive meal. Clean drinking water should always be available in a separate trough.

Before pigs are weaned it will usually prove more economical to change to wet feeding of the concentrate . mixture, as dry feeding after weaning is usually very wasteful. It is not economically feasible, as a general practice, to offer dry feed ad lib. in a self-feeder where it could be fed without waste. Hence, the method usually favoured is to mix a fairly thin slop, where clean drinking water is available in a separate trough, or where there is no separate water trough, make a thin gruel by adding 61b. of the meal mixture to each 4 gallons of water.

The chief virtue of milk proteins is their completeness and’ suitability as a food for young animals, and this fact fits well with the aim of securing rapid growth and efficient food conversion through the extra food given in the creep to piglets to supplement the sows’ milk supply. Whatever can be done to encourage piglets to start taking extra food from the earliest possible age should be done. After the first week or so, during which the sow and litter should if possible have been allowed a run out on good grass, the litter should be shut in with meal in the creep while the sow is allowed out for a few hours during the day. Hunger will then assist the natural inquisitiveness of the piglets to discover the meal and, if it is palatable, they will start to feed from the creep.

In some stock-feed grades of buttermilk powder the degree of acidity may have reached a high level. Feeding a high proportion of such powder may result in scouring, but this tendency

can be counteracted by the addition of 1 per cent, of slaked lime to the feed. Early Weaning Special starter feeds based on buttermilk powder and ground oats, sweetened with sugar and reinforced with fats, vitamins, minerals, and antibiotics, are being used very successfully today in getting the litter started feeding independently at a very early age. Pioneer work in this direction has been done in the U.S.A., where it has been proved practicable to wean at 3 or 4 days of age, feed entirely on the dry starter feed ad lb. with water to drink, and achieve weights of about 601 b. per piglet at 8 weeks; these are much better than are normally expected from ordinary rearing on the sow supplemented by creep feeding. Similar results have been obtained in England and in preliminary trials with this early weaning technique at the Department of Agriculture’s Ruakura Animal Research Station. A heat lamp and a 4ft. x 4ft. weaner coop in which the piglets can maintain a temperature of . approximately 70 degrees F. are necessary to success in this practice. The greater efficiency of feed use achieved by direct feeding to the piglets as against double conversion through the sow is the obvious advantage of this system. Other advantages may be the arranging of farrowings to have pigs at the right time to use .the seasonal dairy by-product feed supply with maximum efficiency, the bringing of individual sows round to more satisfactory farrowing dates, and even reduction in the amount of labour required to rear a litter.

The value of milk powders for the special purpose of early weaning will be considerably higher than has already been indicated. However, the starter foods are mixtures and it is probable that successful results will be obtained, only when a complete mixture is used. The practicability of the farmer mixing his own starter food has still to be tested. Main Uses Milk powders are the highest quality feedstuff available for pig feeding. There is likely to be a plentiful supply of buttermilk powders on the local market in the immediate future and probably at a price which enables economic use of them in pig feeding. The outstanding value of buttermilk powder as a pig food must be stressed. Provided it is stored under good conditions and a watch is kept to ensure that a high level of acidity is not allowed to cause digestive upsets to the pigs there is no doubt that it will be a very useful and convenient adjunct to the normal pig feeds. The uses. to which buttermilk powder is best suited are: — . 1. Creep feeding: An early start on independent feeding through creep-fed supplements of high quality ensures increased economy of gain and the basis for improved carcass quality. 2. Supplementing protein-deficient winter crops or whey for all classes of pigs. 3. Supplementing a declining milk food supply to enable pigs which would otherwise be unfinished _ to reach the premium porker weight (over 601 b.). : -fr

4. Early weaning: It will generally be the most satisfactory protein concentrate for this purpose. To justify use of buttermilk in other circumstances its price would, have to be comparable with that of meat meal on the basis of their relative values for. pig feeding. For practical purposes, if a 60 per cent, protein meat meal costs 335. a hundredweight, -it would pay to use buttermilk powder when its price was about 375. a hundredweight.

Radio Broadcasts to Farmers

RADIO broadcasts to farmers will be given during . December as follows: — IYA Auckland, 7 p.m. 1 December" Transportation and Finishing Losses in Fat Lambs”, by E. Nelson, Livestock Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Auckland. 8 December“ Lessons from the Past Year”, by E. H. Arnold, Assistant Fields Superintendent, Department of Agriculture, Auckland. IYZ Rotorua, 7.15 p.m. 9 December Topical Farming Notes, by S. R. Hewitt, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Whakatane. 2XA Wanganui, 8 p.m. 2 December—" For the Countrywoman”, by Mary MacDonald. 9 December“ The Radio Vet.”, by S. Jamieson, Veterinarian, Wanganui. 16 December“ Lucerne”, by A. A. Duncan, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Wanganui. 2YZ Napier, 7.10 p.m. 7 December—“ Harvesting Seed Crops in Hawkes Bay”, by F. H. Collin, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Hastings. 2ZA Palmerston North, 12.33 p.m. 6 December“ Sheep Feed and ■ Feet”, by D. L. Calder, Livestock Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North. 13 December —“Haymaking”, by E. G. Rose, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North. 20 December“ Some Causes of Poor Quality Cream”, by H. . A . Scott, Farm Dairy Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Feilding.

3YA Christchurch 9 December (7.15 p.m.)—Review of “The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture”, by E. G. Smith, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Rangiora. 20 December (12.20 p.m.)—"The Farming Year”, by C. C. Leitch, Fields Superintendent, Department of Agriculture, Christchurch. 4YZ Invercargill, 7. p.m. 7 December“ Field Drainage”, by K. L. Mayo, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Invercargill. “Litter in the Fowl House”, by I. D. R. McKenzie, Poultry Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Dunedin. 14 December—“ Field Drainage”, by K. L. Mayo, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Invercargill. “The Honey Crop”, by S. Line, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Invercargill. 21 December —“Field Drainage”, by K. L. Mayo, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Invercargill. “D.D.T. and Grassgrub Control”, by T. Sewell, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Gore. Regular Sessions IXH Hamilton, Mondays at 12.33 p.m. and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. (Frankton stock market report), Wednesdays at 12.33 p.m. (report from Ruakura Animal Research Station), Thursdays at 12.33 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. (stock sale review). IXN Whangarei, Mondays at 8.5 p.m., Wednesdays at 8.1 p.m. (Northland stock market report), Fridays at 8.1 p.m. IYA Auckland, Tuesdays at 12.35 p.m., Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at .12.33 p.m., Saturdays at. 6 p.m. (Auckland stock market report).

IYD Auckland, Thursdays at 7.30 p.m. IYZ Rotorua, Mondays at 12.33 p.m. (Waikato stock market review), Tuesdays at 7 p.m. (Hamilton stock market report), Wednesdays at 7.15 p.m. (Pig Council talk on fourth Wednesday of every other month), Thursdays at 12.33 p.m. and 7.15 p.m. (fortnightly). 2XA Wanganui, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. (Wanganui stock sale report), Thursdays at 8 p.m. 2XG Gisborne, Tuesdays at 8 p.m., Fridays at 8.2 p.m. (Gisborne stock market report). 2XN Nelson, Thursdays at 8. p.m. 2XP New Plymouth, Thursdays at 8.1 p.m. 2YA Wellington, Mondays at 7.15 p.m., Thursdays at 12.33 p.m., Fridays at 7 p.m. (Feilding stock market report). 2YZ Napier, Tuesdays at 12.12 p.m. (Hawkes Bay orchardist session), Tuesdays at 7.10 p.m., Wednesdays at 7.15 p.m.. (Hawkes Bay-Poverty Bay livestock market report), Thursdays at 12.33 p.m. 2ZA Palmerston North, Mondays at 12.33 p.m., Fridays at 8.45 p.m. (Feilding stock market report). 3X6 Timaru, Mondays at 8 p.m. (Pleasant Point stock market report), Tuesdays (fortnightly) at 8 p.m. (Temuka stock market report), Wednesdays at 8 p.m., and Saturdays at 10.30 a.m. 3YA Christchurch, Mondays at 12.20 p.m., ■Wednesdays at 7.15 p.m. (Addington stock market report), Thursdays at 12.33 p.m. and 7.15 p.m. 3YZ Greymouth, Thursdays at 12.33 p.m. 4YA Dunedin, Mondays at 12.33 p.m., Wednesdays at 7 p.m. (Burnside stock market report), Thursdays at 12.33 p.m. 4YZ Invercargill, Mondays at 12.33 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 p.m.

TABLE I— DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN lOOLB. OF VARIOUS FEEDS AND THEIR COMPARATIVE VALUES IN PIG FEEDING Per cent. Per cent. digestible digestible cent. Percent. Total J x crude carbo- digestible digestible digestible Nutritive Feedstuff protein hydrate fibre oil x 2.3 nutrients ratio I : , J).,, 2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Skimmed milk 3.3 5.0 Nil 0.23 8 5 16 Buttermilk 3.4 4.1 Nil 1.84 9'3 I'7 Whey 0.6 5.0 Nil 0.5 6'l 9' ♦Skimmed milk powder .. .. 32.0 50.0 Nil 4 0 86 1 6 ♦Buttermilk powder .. .. 35.0 42.0 Nil 17 0 94 I'7 ♦Dried whey 12.7 73.9 Nil 33 90 6' 60 per cent, protein meat meal 56.4 0.5 Nil 22.5 79 0 4 50 per cent, protein meat and bone mea137.2 Nil Nil 35.0 72 0 9 Maize (dry fed, soaked, or cooked) 7.7 63.8 0.7 6.2 78 9 Coconut meal 15.3 35.4 8.6 15.0 74 4 Barley meal 8.6 59.1 0.5 2.8 71 8 Pollard 12.2 45.0 1.5 7.3 66 4 Oats (farm ground) .. ... 9.6 43.2 9.4 62 7 Coarse bran 10.3 33.3 1.2 3.4 48 4 Lucerne meal .. .. .. 11.7 24.5 7.4 3.2 47 3 Sugar beet (grated) .. .. 0.6 21.6 1.0 23 38 Potato peelings (hand peeled) 1.6 16.4 0.5 18 10

Free Bulletins for the Pig Farmer Nos. 15 Causes of Excessive Waste in the Pig Industry. 243 New Zealand Baconer and Porker Carcass Judging Standards. 302 Rejection of Pigs by Works. 343 Crops for Wintering Pigs. 364 The Feeding and Management of the Sow and Litter. 366 Production of Quality Pig Carcasses. 374 The . Ruakura Round Farrowing House. The above ; bulletins, part of a series of over 350 on all aspects of farming, are available post free from the nearest office of the Department of Agriculture, or from the Head Office of the Department, Box 2298, Wellington.

* On 5 per cent, moisture basis.

* Expressed as per cent, lactic acid. '