Creep feeding

Creep intake is influenced by palatability, method of presentation, diet form, sow milk yield and composition, age of pig, environment, health, vigour of pigs and availability of water.

It is general practice to introduce creep to suckling pigs at seven to ten days of age. However intake up to 21 days is very low and variable, partly due to the abundance of milk and partly to the immaturity of the digestive system of the pig. In studies at Moorepark it was found that almost 80 percent of the creep was consumed in the final week and 50 percent in the final 3 days prior to weaning at 28 days (Table 1). The low level consumed up to 21 days of age casts doubt over the need to begin creep feeding at a young age. Feeding only for the last 10 days before weaning may be a more efficient use of resources.

Age of pig (days)	Percentage of creep consumed
11 - 14	3
14 - 18	6
18 - 21	12
21 - 24	31
24 - 28	48

Kavanagh et al. (1995).

Creep feed should be palatable, fed fresh and with a fresh supply of water. Feeds on the market range considerably in price. The more expensive diets usually contain a high percentage of milk products and higher levels of amino acids, digestible energy and fat. An advantage claimed for creep feeding is that it will accustom the baby pig to dry feed and stimulate enzyme secretion which in turn will minimise the growth check at weaning. A study at Moorepark compared a higher specification creep diet (£600 approximately) with a medium specification diet (£450 approximately) when offered to suckling pigs in the farrowing room. While creep feed intake per pig was slightly higher on the high specification diet, pre-weaning growth rates were unaffected (Table 2).

	Control	High specification	Medium specification
Initial age (days)	10	11	11
Weaning age (days)	26	26	25
Initial weight (kg)	3.6	3.6	3.6
Weaning weight (kg)	7.4	7.2	7.2
Total litter intake	-	2.8	2.5
Creep feed per pig (g)	-	261	255

Kavanagh et al. (1995).

There has been little evaluation of the effects of differrent management options on creep feed intake.

Only increased access to feed appears to have a distinct effect.  Appleby et al., (1992) reported that the provision of extra feeders appeared to eliminate the low feeding scores commonly seen with a single feeder.

Practical experience often indicates that more than one feeder increases the link of fouling.  Pigs feed only a short period of time anyway and so increasing feeding space to allow pigs to imitate one another is important in establishing feeding behaviour.  Creep feeders with a large surface area are to be recommended.  Sprinkling of feed on the floor is wasteful and should be used only to encourage feeding initially.  Regular cleaning and replenishment of feeders provokes exploratory behaviour and increased feeding frequency by piglets.  Feeding creep fresh once daily or 3 times daily had no effect on creep feed intake in our experience.

Traditionally creep feed is offered in a dry form, pelleted or meal. A comparison of pelleted (2.5 mm) and meal diets at Moorepark resulted in no difference in either intake or growth rate (See Table 3).

	Control	Pellet	Meal
Initial age (days)	10	11	11
Weaning age (days)	27	26	27
Initial weight (kg)	3.7	4.0	3.9
Weaning weight (kg)	7.5	8.2	8.1
Total litter intake (kg)	-	3.8	3.6
Creep feed per pig (g)	-	352	343

Kavanagh et al. (1995).

Feeding reconstituted milk replacer at a restricted level to suckling pigs in the farrowing rooms resulted in improved weight gains pre-weaning and higher weaning weights. The use of liquid feed is labour intensive and great care needs to be taken with hygiene. Such products are also very expensive. Some milk-replacers are claimed to be "relatively unpalatable" making them unattractive to bigger pigs and more likely to be consumed by smaller pigs. Experience at Moorepark would not support this view.

	No Creep	Creep
Birth weight (kg)	1.7	1.5
Weaning weight (kg)	8.3	8.1
26 days post-weaning weight (kg)	21.3	21.0
Feed intake post-weaing (g/day)
Days 0-7	181	180
Days 7-14	423	406
Days 0-26	587	572
Daily gain (g/day)
Days 0-14	284	286
Days 0-26	481	470
Feed conversion efficiency
Days 0-14	1.3	1.3
Days 0-26	1.22	1.22

Kavanagh et al. (1995).

While creep feeding is still to be recommended, on the basis that even if it is of little benefit it will not do any harm, one should not expect dramatic results in either pre- of post-weaning performance if weaning takes place at or before 28 days of age and sows are milking well.