Abstract Modern production practices give pigs ad libitum access to feed through the wean to finish growth period; however, it is not uncommon for feed interruptions to occur. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of feed outages at different frequencies on the growth performance and morbidity and mortality of grow-finish pigs. This study was carried out in a commercial-scale research facility using a RCBD with 3 treatments: Control (no scheduled interruptions), Bi-weekly, and Weekly. The feed outage duration was 8 hours for both treatments, and outages were executed by adjusting the feeders closed at 0730 on the day of the scheduled outage and opening them back up at 1530 the same day. Feed outages were suspended for each pen once the first pigs were removed for harvest. Pigs were fed a common 3 phase commercial dietary program that was formulated to meet or exceed nutrient requirements (NRC, 2012). A total of 60 blocks were allotted to trial in pens housing 22 pigs per pen for a total of 3,960 pigs on study. Pigs were placed on test at 51.0 ± 5.21 kg, and pens were harvested in 2 or 3 groups, depending on the block, at an average harvest weight of 130.9 ± 2.62 kg. Data were analyzed using the lmer function in R with treatment as the fixed effect, block as the random effect, and pen as the experimental unit. Morbidity and mortality data were analyzed using a Chi-squared analysis. Start and end weights were similar between treatments (P 0.05). Overall ADG, ADFI, and G:F were similar between treatments. Overall morbidity and mortality was similar between treatments. In conclusion, feed outages had minimal impact on growth performance and morbidity and mortality.
Ewing et al. (2026) studied this question.