Labour convenience with Mellow Go

Key benefit of Mellow Go includes labour convenience. The soft pellets are easy to dose in any piglet feeding bowl. To quantify this key benefit we performed a trial at a farm with 800 sows. This trial clearly shows the benefits of feeding Mellow Go  in terms of labour convenience (trial was performed March – April 2018).

Trial

During this trial, highly pregant sows were divided into 2 groups, an A group and a B group. After the piglets were born they were both given a different diet. PIglets from group A were fed Mellow Go day 5 until day 20 and a rearing diet from day 20 until day 27. Group B was fed Lacto Start from day 5 until day 11, Top Wean from day 11 to 20 and a rearing diet from day 20 until day 27.  In both groups the rearing was fed diet until 10 days after weaning. In both group we saw a comparable feed intake and growth is observed. Find below the feed intake in the both groups. The weight of the piglets on day 10 after weaning was:

• Group A: 8,96 kg
• Group B: 8,78 kg

More labour convenience

During the trial the work was recorded daily. Making and supplying milk (twice a day in liquid form) takes around 6 minutes extra per litter compared to feeding Mellow (dry) in the period of day 5 – 11. This is approximately € 0,25 per piglet (based on labour costs of € 27,50). The feed costs per piglet of group A were approximately € 0,15 higher. This means that the Mellow Go’s ease of work in this case yields € 0,10 per piglet. Of course this figures dan differ per market situation.

Optimal hygiene

Next to more labour convenience an other key benefit of Mellow Go includes optimal hygiene. Mellow Go is dispensed dry, minimizing the risk of undesirable bacterial growth in the feed bowls. And that means they don’t need to be cleaned so often. Compared to piglet milk or wet feed, the switch from mellows to piglet pellets goes much more smoothly. This means you are assured of a higher weaning weight and stronger piglets that grow fast after weaning.