Mike Brumm
Jim Dahlquist
Summary and Implications
An experiment was conducted to determine if barrow and gilt performance could be modified by varying pen space allocation for each sex and whether performance of barrows given less space per pig could be enhanced with a more nutrient-dense diet. Barrows given 6 ft² of pen space per pig consumed less feed and grew slower with no effect on lean gain compared to barrows provided 7 ft² of pen space per pig. Increasing diet nutrient density by feeding the diet sequence recommended for gilts to barrows had no effect on performance for barrows at 6 ft² per pig. No differences in performance or carcass measurements were found when space allocation for gilts was increased from 7 to 8 ft² per pig. These results suggest that instead of stocking all-in/all-out (AIAO) managed grow-finish facilities at 7 ft² per pig for both barrows and gilts, growth rate of barrows can be restricted to match that of gilts if barrows are given 6 ft² and gilts 8 ft² of pen space per pig. For producers with barns of 500 head capacity managed AIAO, this manipulation of barrow growth results in increased numbers of barrows and gilts of the same weight at the same time, thus increasing producer marketing options.
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