Influence of Drinking System Type (Nipple vs. Bowl) on Growth Performance, Feed Efficiency, and Thermal–Behavioural Responses of Weaned Large White Yorkshire Piglets

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate water delivery system is often assumed to influence only drinking behaviour, yet its broader consequences for growth, feed efficiency and physiological comfort in nursery pigs remain less clear. A seven-week trial was therefore designed to compare nipple and bowl drinkers with respect to body weight gain, average daily gain (ADG), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), rectal, skin and eye temperature and drinking-related behaviour in weaned Large White Yorkshire piglets. Twenty-four piglets, divided equally between the two drinker types and replicated three times per treatment, were monitored from one month of age onward. Neither body weight nor feed intake differed meaningfully between the groups: piglets on both systems grew from roughly 6.4 kg to over 21 kg, with near-identical ADG (0.302 and 0.297 kg/day) and FCR (2.72 and 2.81). Thermal indicators were also similar, as rectal, skin and eye temperatures stayed within normal physiological limits across both treatments, pointing to no added heat or cold stress from either device. The clearest contrast emerged in behaviour: piglets on nipple drinkers drank for longer and visited the drinker more often than their bowl-fed counterparts, whereas time taken to adapt, competition at the drinker, and resting duration were statistically unchanged. Taken together, the findings suggest that while nipple drinkers promote noticeably more drinking activity, the choice between nipple and bowl systems has little bearing on growth, feed conversion, or thermal welfare.