GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND SKIN LESION SCORE OF WEANED PIGS REARED ON GUINEA GRASS BEDDED PIGSTIES

Abstract

In order to ensure sustainable pig production in most tropical countries, alternative flooring systems need to be investigated and adopted. A five-week experiment was carried out to investigate the growth performance and skin lesion score of 36 weaned pigs, separated into four treatments with three replicates each, in a completely randomized design. The treatments include three different heights of Guinea Grass Straw (GGS): T1 (without GGS): concrete floor, T2: 0.1m high GGS, T3: 0.2m high GGS and T4:0.3m high GGS. Data were collected on growth performance: final weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) and skin lesion (front, middle and rear). All data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Weight gain 4.75kg (T3) was higher (P<0.05) when compared with 4.28kg (T2), 3.94kg (T4) and 3.34kg (T1). Final weight followed similar trend with pigs in T3 (9.94kg) having the highest weight compared with T2 (9.40kg), T4 (9.22kg) and T1 (8.55kg). Higher (P<0.05) FCR was recorded for T1 (4.72) while the least was in T3 (3.39). The result for skin lesion for the different parts observed, revealed the least lesion in pigs on T3 and higher occurrence in pigs on T1 (without beddings). Generally, skin lesions occur most at the front legs and heads. It can be concluded that the use of guinea grass straw at the depth of 0.1m and 0.2m can improve the performance of weaned piglets, while guinea grass straw of 0.3m high reduced skin lesions score.