Abstract

Poor feeding system hygiene may contribute to uncontrolled spontaneous fermentation in liquid pig feed and its associated undesirable effects. This study aimed to determine the effects of an intensive sanitisation programme in a grow-finisher liquid feeding system by monitoring microbiological and physico-chemical parameters of liquid feed and microbial colonisation of the feeding system surfaces. The sanitisation programme involved a combination of physical and chemical cleaning between batches of grow-finisher pigs, combined with nightly rinsing of the system with an organic acid blend. Improved hygiene of the internal surfaces of the mixing tank and feed pipeline, particularly until week 5 post-cleaning, was evidenced by reduced counts of lactic acid bacteria, total aerobes, Enterobacteriaceae, yeasts and moulds and decreased adenosine triphosphate concentrations. Enterobacteriaceae and moulds remained undetectable on pipeline surfaces for 10 weeks. Scanning electron microscopy of the feed pipelines confirmed these findings. Conversely, the impact on liquid feed microbiology was minimal and short-lived. However, acetic acid, ethanol and biogenic amine concentrations decreased in the feed post-cleaning and no gross energy losses were observed. Therefore, by controlling surface microbial communities on liquid feeding systems via implementation of the sanitisation programme developed in the current study, on-farm liquid feed quality should be improved.

Details

Title
Optimising the hygiene of a liquid feeding system to improve the quality of liquid feed for pigs
Author
Cullen, J. T. 1 ; Lawlor, P. G. 2 ; Viard, F. 3 ; Lourenco, A. 4 ; Gómez-Mascaraque, L. G. 5 ; O’Doherty, J. V. 6 ; Cormican, P. 7 ; Gardiner, G. E. 8 

 South East Technological University, Eco-Innovation Research Centre, Department of Science, Waterford, Ireland; Teagasc Pig Development Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Co. Cork, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569) 
 Teagasc Pig Development Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Co. Cork, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569) 
 Teagasc Pig Development Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Co. Cork, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569); University College Dublin, School of Agriculture and Food Science, Dublin, Ireland (GRID:grid.7886.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0768 2743) 
 Teagasc Food Research Centre, Food Bioscience Department, Co. Cork, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569) 
 Teagasc Food Research Centre, Food Chemistry and Technology Department, Co. Cork, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569) 
 University College Dublin, School of Agriculture and Food Science, Dublin, Ireland (GRID:grid.7886.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0768 2743) 
 Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Co. Meath, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 1512 9569) 
 South East Technological University, Eco-Innovation Research Centre, Department of Science, Waterford, Ireland (GRID:grid.6435.4) 
Pages
16516
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3082045670
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.