Establishing forage turnips in the pasture for gestating sows (OK-Net EcoFeed practice abstract)

Summary in the original language of the document

By establishing turnips, the sows will be supplied with foraging material, so the turnips can serve as a nutrient source and as behavioural enrichment. Moreover, this can reduce pasture damage caused by excessive rooting.
• Sows consumed forage turnips, roots and leaves, very well and gestating sows were hungry even at 100% commercial feed ratio (Figure 2).
• Consumption of forage turnips was around 1.1 kg dry matter per sow and day, corresponding to 11.2 MJ NE/sow and day
• Poor establishment of forage turnips resulted in too little energy for the restrictively fed sows. They had to use their own body reserves and lost in body condition and weight (Figures 3 and 4).
• The average number of weaned piglets was very low (8.4 and 8.5 piglets/sow) in both the treatment and the control group. This was probably due to a fire in a nearby unit, which made the sows very stressed.
• To increase the yield of forage turnips, they might be seeded in combination with e.g. white clover.
• A drill with doubled spacing (e.g. 25 cm) might lower a high weed pressure.
• Theoretically, up to 40% lower feed ration might be replaced by forage turnips. However, there need to be enough forage turnips in the field in order not to risk poor sow body condition and weight losses during ges-tation and post farrowing.
• Forage turnips can serve as behaviour enrichment to restrictively fed sows and have the potential to lower accumulated land use by reducing rooting activity.