Fermented liquid feed for pigs.

Liquid feeding systems develop a microflora that usually becomes dominated by lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and this can be beneficial to the health of the pigs. When levels greater than 100 mM lactic acid are generated in liquid feed (LF), this can significantly reduce the numbers of enteropathogens and reduce the incidence of Salmonella . Using fermented co-products from the human food industry or deliberately fermenting LF has the potential to improve gut health and nutrient utilization. The evidence indicates that spontaneous fermentation of LF is unreliable and fails to yield consistently good results. Maintaining a continuous fermentation by retaining a proportion of the feed each day can result in the development of a resident microflora dominated by yeasts. This may compromise both palatability and health and reduce the nutritional value of the feed. Batch fermentation of the cereal portion of the diet using inoculants selected to generate high concentrations of lactic acid has the potential to produce more consistent results. This approach may enable the combination of the preservative and probiotic effects of LAB, while also improving the availability of nutrients in the feed and reducing levels of anti-nutrients and mycotoxins. Accurate assessment of these changes will enable nutritionists to modify raw material specifications and constraints to take advantage of these improvements, and in so doing, improve pig performance and reduce environmental impact.