Water is an important resource at pig farms, essential in promoting animal health. But it can also be a host for diseases, not only negatively impacting animal health, but also decreasing pigs’ willingness to eat and drink.
Build-up of biofilm in the drinking water system is a major contributor to growth of bacteria and other pathogens. It can also lead to clogged drinking outlets, causing reduced water consumption and feed intake.
Conversely, drinking healthy water leads to overall improved well-being of the animals, and drinking plenty of water improves feed efficiency that can reduce the feed required to achieve slaughter weight.
An HPGen A2000 system from Danish manufacturer HPNow was was installed on an Iowa pig unit to treat up to 30,000 litres of drinking water daily with Peroxide UltraPure. The overall objective was to improve productivity and reduce losses, ensuring that all pigs remained healthy and got to market at a profitable weight.
HPGen systems generate a safe concentration of Peroxide UltraPure, a very high purity solution of hydrogen peroxide, free of additives and stabilisers. This is dosed into the livestock drinking water system, where it ensures the water is clean and safe for the animals to drink. Since, unlike chlorine, hydrogen peroxide doesn’t have an adverse taste, this entices the animals to drink more, and in turn, eat more.
The system’s efficacy for livestock drinking water treatment quickly became apparent. After a six-month cycle of introducing Peroxide UltraPure into the pig drinking water, data from the farm showed:
- the pigs were heavier by 5kg on average;
- feed efficiency had improved by five to 10 per cent; and
- average daily weight gain was improved by 15 per cent.
These represent a strong positive economical impact for the operation. In particular, as the pigs grew faster and with less food consumption, they could be brought to market up to two weeks faster.
