Phase-Feed the Herd & Budget Every Kilogram to Market

A modern terminal-cross pig grown from about 6 kg at weaning to a 120 kg market weight eats roughly 290–300 kg of feed in total — around 293 kg in this tool at a standard 2.6:1 feed:gain. The figure rises with a heavier market weight (more late-finisher feed, which converts worst) and falls with better genetics or health. Enter your own weaning and market weights to get the exact budget.

For each phase the tool takes the weight gained inside that phase's band and multiplies it by that phase's feed:gain ratio: feed = gain × FCR. The nursery phases convert near 1.4–1.6:1, the grower phases near 2.1–2.6:1 and the finisher phases near 3.0–3.4:1, so the same kilogram of gain costs far more feed late in the run. Summed across all phases you get the total feed to market.

On a full wean-to-finish basis, a whole-period FCR around 2.6:1 is excellent, 2.8:1 is good, 3.1:1 is average and over 3.4:1 has clear room to improve. Finishing-only FCR (from ~25 kg) runs higher because it excludes the efficient nursery phase. The tool labels your result against these benchmarks and shows the per-phase ratios that make up the average.

Because feed:gain deteriorates steadily as a pig grows — maintenance and fat deposition rise with body weight, so a heavy finisher converts at well over twice the rate of a nursery pig. A single whole-life ratio over-feeds the early phases and under-feeds the late ones, mis-pricing both the expensive nursery diet and the bulk finisher feed. Phase budgeting matches the right diet and tonnage to each weight band.

It is the total feed cost divided by the total weight gained — the truest single measure of feeding efficiency in dollars. At a 2.6:1 FCR and roughly $420/tonne average feed, that lands near $1.00–1.10 per kg of gain. Because feed is 60–70% of the cost of producing a pig, this number, not the headline feed price, is what decides whether a batch is profitable.

From a 6 kg weaner to a 120 kg market pig is about 145–150 days for standard genetics in good health — the tool sums each phase's days as gain ÷ average daily gain (ADG). High-lean genetics and good health speed it up; a disease challenge or poor environment slows ADG and stretches the timeline. Faster growth also improves feed efficiency, because less feed goes to maintenance.

Nursery (pre-starter and starter) diets are built around highly digestible, expensive ingredients — milk products, plasma, specialty proteins — because a young pig's gut cannot yet handle high-fibre, plant-based grower feed. The tool auto-scales the nursery diets dearer and the finisher diets cheaper around your average price, so the cost split reflects real diet economics, not a flat price.

Yes. Lower the market weight and the late finisher phases drop out of the budget; raise it and more high-FCR finisher feed is added. Because the heaviest phases convert worst, pushing market weight from 120 to 130 kg adds disproportionately more feed per extra kg — the tool shows exactly how much, which is the core of any market-weight decision.

ADG is how many kilograms a pig adds per day in a phase — about 0.3 kg in the nursery, rising to nearly 1.0 kg in finishing. It sets the days in each phase (gain ÷ ADG) and therefore the days to market, barn throughput and overhead per pig. Faster ADG also means less feed wasted on maintenance, so it improves FCR too.

The tool multiplies the per-pig budget by the pigs that reach market, then adds a half-budget allowance for any that die during grow-finish (they ate feed before being lost). With 1,000 pigs placed at 3% mortality, about 970 are marketed and the group needs roughly 290 tonnes of feed — the figure you order against and store for.

The phase weight bands, feed:gain and ADG benchmarks are anchored to the NRC Nutrient Requirements of Swine (11th revised edition, 2012) growth and feed-intake model, cross-referenced with PIC and university (Kansas State, Iowa State, Nebraska) grow-finish performance summaries for modern terminal-cross genetics. The diet lysine percentages follow the NRC 2012 phase-feeding recommendations.

Tighten feeder adjustment to cut wastage, phase-feed precisely so you do not feed an expensive nursery or grower diet past its weight band, match diet lysine to requirement, keep pigs healthy and the barn well ventilated, and consider higher-lean genetics. Every 0.1 off the FCR saves real feed — the tool quantifies the kilograms a tighter ratio would save per pig.

It is a solid planning budget from published growth and efficiency benchmarks. Actual feed use varies with diet formulation, ingredient quality, genetics, season, health status and feeder management, so treat the result as a working estimate. Weigh feed deliveries and pigs where you can, and use the tool to compare scenarios — market weight, genetics, health — and to set realistic feed orders and break-even prices.