Here you can see the VERBA KZB Family Feeding Bowl In action in Portugal. We received the video from our client, who had installed a trial feeding trough at their customer’s premises and has now placed an order because they are so pleased with the KZB family of feeding troughs.
A laid-back mum
The sow eats from the feeder and allows her piglet to eat calmly from the lowered trough. Because the sow has 24/7 access to fresh feed from the family feeder – unlike with sow troughs – her behaviour is very calm and the mother is really laid-back towards her surroundings and her piglets. After all, she doesn’t need to worry about running out of feed; they soon realise that. As a result, the sow’s feed intake is also higher than with sow troughs, meaning she leaves the farrowing pen in very good condition. Because they have to ‘work’ to get their feed, the sow also stays active and is kept occupied, which further benefits her fitness.
Newborn piglets grow quickly
The piglets also benefit from this behaviour; in addition, they sometimes start drinking water as early as three days after birth, and by five days they are already nibbling at the sow’s feed. Whilst this is not necessarily nutritious for the piglets, the playful consumption of solid feed means that their intestines become accustomed to it very quickly at an early stage, thereby preventing a weaning dip later on and ensuring that the piglets reach their target weight sooner, whilst also being very robust and uniform. Ultimately, the feed conversion ratio of weaned piglets that have eaten from the KZB is even lower than that of piglets fed from standard troughs and feeders.
Save a lot on your feed costs
Additional benefits include a reduction in the percentage of piglets that die due to the peace and quiet the sow enjoys in the farrowing pen, and the fact that the remaining piglets can often be fed a single type of piglet feed – which is usually cheaper – rather than several different types or enriched feeds.
