Effect of Water Delivery System on Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine if cleanliness of the water delivery system influences growth performance of nursery pigs. Newly-weaned pigs (n = 315; about 21 d of age) were used in a 42-d experiment. Pigs were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 water line treatments with 17 to 18 pens/treatment and 9 pigs/pen. Treatments consisted of: 1) OLD water line: water delivered to pens via a water distribution system in use for 21 years without cleaning or 2) NEW water line: water delivered to pens via a water distribution system in use for 6 weeks. Water for both distribution systems was sourced from a common well. Pigs were housed in an environmentally controlled, power ventilated, confinement nursery barn and were allowed ad libitum access to water and common diets fed in 3 phases across water line treatments. Growth data were analyzed as a repeated measures design using PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with water line as a fixed effect, room as a random effect, and pen as the experimental unit. There were no differences in body weight (P > 0.05) throughout the experiment for pigs drinking water from the OLD or NEW water line (Table). Pigs fed water from OLD lines consumed more feed than pigs consuming water from NEW lines but this difference did not influence ADG or G:F throughout the experiment. Mortality and total removals of pigs did not differ between treatments (P > 0.05). In conclusion, age and cleanliness of a water delivery system had minimal effects on growth performance of nursery pigs.