Yao Renjie, van Hees Hubèrt M J, Cools An, Ballari Sebastián A, Maes Dominiek, Janssens Geert P J
Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Porcine Health Manag. 2025 Apr 29;11(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s40813-025-00439-4.
The often disappointing intake of creep feed by suckling piglets coincides with a limited ability to cope with challenges such as weaning diarrhoea. Investigating the dietary nutrient profile of piglets (Sus scrofa) in the wild may help to improve nutrition for farmed piglets. This study was conducted to analyse the stomach content of feral piglets and their farmed counterparts, and to compare them with the composition of commercial creep feeds. Forty feral piglets (4.6 ± 1.4 kg) living in a wild herd were tracked and legally hunted in the Bahía Samborombón (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Their gastric contents were collected for analysing macronutrients. Twenty-eight farmed suckling piglets of similar ages were sourced from a Dutch research farm, and their stomach contents were collected and pooled into fourteen samples with the same procedure for comparison. Additionally, the composition data of twenty-five commercial feeds was also collected.
A higher dry matter content was observed in the farmed piglets' stomachs (233 vs. 148 g/kg, P < 0.05). The gastric crude protein concentration was similar between both groups but the crude fat concentration was higher in the stomach of farmed animals (525 vs. 238 g/kg DM, P < 0.05), while feral piglets consumed more ash and fibre (P < 0.05). A similar concentration of non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) on metabolizable energy basis was observed by calculation through the NRC's guideline (P > 0.05). Within the fibre content, significantly greater concentrations of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) were observed in the stomach of feral piglets than in those of farmed piglets (282 vs. 36 g/kg, 158 vs. 9 g/kg DM, 53 vs. 3 g/kg DM, respectively, P < 0.05). Similar protein concentrations were observed between the gastric content of feral piglets and creep feed, while significantly higher crude ash and crude fat concentrations were found in feral piglets' consumption (P < 0.05).
In conclusion, piglets in natural conditions consume much more fibre-from coarse plant material-compared to farmed piglets receiving creep feed. Although technical performance is distinctly different between nature and farm, it raises the question whether suckling piglets under farming conditions would benefit from a more fibrous and coarser creep feed.
哺乳仔猪对教槽料的采食情况往往不尽人意，同时它们应对诸如断奶腹泻等挑战的能力有限。研究野生仔猪（野猪）的日粮营养成分可能有助于改善养殖仔猪的营养状况。本研究旨在分析野生仔猪和养殖仔猪的胃内容物，并将其与商业教槽料的成分进行比较。在阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯的巴伊亚桑博罗蒙（Bahía Samborombón）追踪并合法猎杀了40头生活在野生猪群中的野生仔猪（体重4.6±1.4千克）。收集它们的胃内容物以分析常量营养素。从荷兰一家研究农场获取了28头年龄相近的养殖哺乳仔猪，按照相同程序收集它们的胃内容物并合并为14个样本用于比较。此外，还收集了25种商业饲料的成分数据。
养殖仔猪胃中的干物质含量更高（233对148克/千克，P<0.05）。两组的胃中粗蛋白浓度相似，但养殖动物胃中的粗脂肪浓度更高（525对238克/千克干物质，P<0.05），而野生仔猪摄入的灰分和纤维更多（P<×0.05）。根据美国国家研究委员会（NRC）的指南计算，在可代谢能量基础上观察到非纤维碳水化合物（NFC）浓度相似（P>0.05）。在纤维含量方面，野生仔猪胃中的中性洗涤纤维（NDF）、酸性洗涤纤维（ADF）和酸性洗涤木质素（ADL）浓度显著高于养殖仔猪（分别为282对36克/千克、DM158对9克/千克、53对3克/千克DM，P<0.05）。野生仔猪胃内容物和教槽料中的蛋白质浓度相似，但野生仔猪摄入的粗灰分和粗脂肪浓度显著更高（P<0.05）。
总之，与采食教槽料的养殖仔猪相比，自然条件下的仔猪从粗植物材料中摄入的纤维要多得多。尽管自然环境和养殖场的技术性能明显不同，但这引发了一个问题，即养殖条件下的哺乳仔猪是否会从纤维含量更高、质地更粗的教槽料中受益。
