Comparison of confinement and pasture systems for growing and finishing swine from birth to market

The growing and finishing of pigs in confinement on concrete feeding floors, called "pig parlors" by many producers, has received increasingly more attention as a system of producing market hogs in recent years. This system of growing and finishing hogs has been made possible by recent advances in swine nutrition. Formerly, pasture was relied upon to correct some nutritional deficiences in swine rations and to replace a limited part of the protein and energy requirements.

Because of the increased knowledge of the nutritional requirements of the pig, together with the availability of vitamin supplements and other feed additives, rations for confinement or drylot feeding can now be formulated so that the gains and efficiency of pigs fed in confinement are comparable to or greater than, in many cases, those obtained on pasture.

This and other factors has made confinement systems of producing market hogs attractive to some producers and has led many to question the economic value of including pasture in a production program. However, only a limited amount of work has been done to compare the performance, feed requirements and production costs under confinement and pasture systems. This is particularly true for systems which include the period from birth of the pigs to weaning time.

This experiment was conducted at the University of Tennessee Field Station at Ames Plantation to obtain comparative data relative to the performance, feed requirements and costs of production of pigs produced from birth to marketing in confinement and pasture management systems.