A semiautomatic device for feeding liquid milk-replacer diets to infant pigs

We describe the design and use of a device that enables the semiautomatic feeding of various quantities of liquid, milk-replacer diet. The apparatus consists of a programmable fraction collector (with attachments for preparative work) driven by a high-flow peristaltic pump. To reduce bacterial growth and lipid oxidation of the liquid diet, we kept the milk-replacer in an ice bath and bubbled a slow stream of nitrogen through it at all times. The liquid diet was kept in suspension by continuous recirculation and agitation. The device can be used to dispense prespecified amounts of either the same volume of feed, or a different volume to each of two groups of animals at regular intervals over 24 h; alternatively, by using the time-windows feature of the fraction collector, up to 11 different volumes can be dispensed to 11 animals. We present results of a preliminary trial in which we used the equipment to feed 11 pigs, weaned at 1 d of age, for 11 d. Daily maintenance and programming of two systems, including diet preparation and pig weight measurements, were accomplished in approximately 90 min. The feeder is simple to program and enables the feed intake of the pigs to be adjusted accurately for individual BW on a daily basis. The pigs had no diarrhea and grew well on the rations allocated to them.