November 16, 2020

 

Trial with Tonisity Px carried out at 1,150-sow commercial farm

 

 

Tonisity revealed that a study has been carried out on a commercial sow farm of 1,150 sows and involved the application of the company's Tonisity Px electrolyte product.

 

The farm produces 2,600 litters per year with approximately 40,000 piglets per year.

 

739 piglets farrowed from 55 sows were enrolled in the study - 30 litters for the control group and 25 litters for TPX group.

 

From day 1 to day 8, 411 piglets were given an electrolyte competitor (control group) and 328 piglets were given Tonisity Px solution (TPX group). All pigs received a milk replacer from day 1 to day 23 (weaning). All pigs received creep feed from day 14 to day 23.

 

Additionally, from day 20 to day 23 (pre-weaning), TPX piglets were given 3% of Tonisity Px solution on top of their dry creep feed.

 

Overall, the mortality in the TPX group was 3.8 percentage points less than in the control group, representing a 21% reduction.

 

The TPX pigs also performed better at all life stages (weaning, nursery and finishing) with an extra 0.24kg at weaning, 3.2kg at the end of nursery and 2.4kg at finishing (exactly 10 times the difference at weaning).

 

The TPX pigs had an average weaning weight of 6.20kg, which was 240g heavier than the control group's average weaning weight of 5.96kg. This represents a 4% increase in weaning weight. Average  nursery weights overall were significantly higher in the TPX group (45kg) than in the control group (41.8kg), being 3.20 kg (7.7%) heavier (P< 0.001).

 

It was not possible to record the weight of all the animals at the finisher stage as some were already sent to the market.

 

However, for those that could be weighed, finishing weights were significantly higher in the TPX group (average of 99.4kg) than in the control group (97kg), being 2.4kg (2.5%) heavier (P < 0.01).

 

Overall, 2.3 times more TPX pigs improved their weight category from day 2 to finishing. At nursery and finishing, a higher percentage of pigs in the TPX group than in the control group moved up the weight category, and a higher percentage of pigs in the control group than in the TPX group moved down the weight category.

 

The TPX group had a statistically significant 51.8% reduction (P=0.01) in the percentage of fall-behinds at weaning, compared to the control group. In terms of production, this means 47 more pigs per 1,000 weaned and four less nurse sows per 1,000 piglets weaned.

 

Given that this farm is producing 40,000 pigs/ year, the net margin would be an extra £56,500 (US$74,726) p.a. based solely on pre-weaning mortality. The ROI is calculated at 3.3:1. This means that for every pound sterling invested in Px, the revenue from the extra pigs pays for the investment and then provides an extra £3.30 (US$4.36) profit.

 

A finishing-weight ROI has also been calculated at 8.6:1, with a net margin of an extra £144,700 (US$191,348) per annum.

 

- Tonisity