After the post-weaning transition period, the animal enters in the fattening period. There are many parameters that influence the growth; gender is one of them. Feed intake capacities and performances vary between male and female and between whole or castrated animals. It seems interesting to divide feeding by gender:
Even if the fattening animal is mature, some problems are recurrent: locomotion, behaviour or intestinal health. The main objective for fattening/finishing pigs is to produce an animal at target weight in the shortest possible time to reduce costs. During hot periods, the animals consume less feed and drink more, which slows down their growth and increases their stay on the farm. Consequently, the farmer loses money due to the mobilisation of his farm.
