Study On The Key Technology Of Natural Swine Feeding System

Natural swine feeding system (NSFS) is a novel method to feed the pigs. In this system, the fermentable bed is applied, and so, the manure from the pigs will be disposed while feeding instead of handling them after cleaning out of the pig pens. This system was introduced into Shandong province and has been expanded widely for 3 years. Some key technical issues have been found during the application.In this research, the hot topics, difficulties and puzzles were collected and analyzed. Twelve experiments in four aspects were conducted. The conclusions were obtained based on these experiments.First, the pig pens environmental circumstances in this system were evaluated. The pens of growing and fattening pigs in this system were better than or as good as the traditional pig pens. In NSFS, pigs were more comfortable in summer; especially in winter the temperature was higher and the pig growth speed was faster. Odor was less and NH3 concentration was reduced. Illumination and ventilation were improved. But the humidity reduction and warm keeping in winter, and the temperature reduction and heatstroke prevention in summer still remained the key points for management in NSFS.Second, the meat quality from NSFS system was assessed. Carcass traits from this NSFS system were no less than that from conventional raising system. But the meat color was significantly improved. Every indices of meat quality achieved or were significantly better than the standard of"safe food- pig meat"(NY5029-2001).Third, the technologies related to padding managements and pig securities were appraised. The specialized fermentation bacteria showed the ability to suppress the growth and propagate of the pathogens, during the process of padding fermentation and maturing. The padding would ferment and raise temperature in winter whether specialized bacteria existed or not. But the specialized fermenting bacteria could accelerate the time of temperature rising and increase the temperature degree of the padding. The fermentation could even be motivated under zero degree circumstances, and the second fermentation could also be activated after turning out. The peculiar disciplines of temperature were found in different layers of the padding, which guaranteed the health of the pig. The extraneous pathogens affected the amounts of the fermentation bacteria. Under high temperature and epidemic spreading conditions, the growth speed of the pigs in NSFS showed little difference compared to pig in conventional systems; but the feed to meat ratio was significantly reduced and the mortality ratio trended to decrease. The special sterilize program should be designed to accommodate the fermentation bed in NSFS. The routine management and padding fermentation could disrupt the spread of the parasites. Although the enrichment of some heavy metals might happen along with the time expansion of the padding, the fermentation bed wouldn't constitute any danger to the pigs.In conclusion, the results from the study suggested the security of the NSFS, which could be a good system to spread and exploit widely. But more attention should be paid to the integration, assembling and assorting of the related key technologies in the procedure of the application of this NSFS.