Intensive Care Gruel

Intensive Care Gruel is no longer available.  In its place, we would recommend Baby Pig Restart - a gruel or top-dressed powder used to stimulate feed intake for young pigs.

Baby Pig Restart helps pigs through weaning transition quickly, promotes weight gain, is tasty and easy-to-use.  Acidified to help promote optimum digestion, Baby Pig Restart can be top dressed, mixed in drinking water or drench. 

Consider Baby Pig Restart in place of Intensive Care Gruel. For more information about this product or how it compares to Intensive Care Gruel, Contact Us.

A highly water soluble and nutrient dense transition product specifically designed to be mixed with water and fed as a gruel to stimulate feed intake in small weaned, starved or orphan piglets. When Intensive Care Gruel (ICG) is mixed into a gruel it forms a tasty, aromatic and highly digestible product which lures pigs and helps entice high nutrient intake.

BENEFITS OF HIGHLY SOLUBLE PRODUCT
The use of MEW and SEW technologies in the 1990’s and the recent adoption of Wean-to-Finish facilities has opened the door for products that can effectively and efficiently provide highly soluble and digestive nutrients in a form that is readily consumed by young, newly weaned pigs that may be small or have an immature digestive system. Highly soluble products have many advantages to the young pig. Faster absorption of energy and amino acids provides nutrients to the animal quicker with less chance for digestive upsets caused by lower digestible ingredients. Fast absorption of a highly soluble product fed initially as a gruel or paste will encourage faster total nutrient intake and can be used to transition pigs to conventional starter pellets. High initial nutrient intake in an acceptable and palatable form is especially important for the small and challenged piglets that are forced to compete with larger or heavier pigs at weaning time. Good early consumption will improve performance and reduce labor because pigs are healthy without a large variation in pig size.

HIGH LEVELS OF MILK PRODUCTS AND NO GRAINS OR SOYBEAN MEAL
ICG contains no corn, oat or other grains products and no soybean meal to provide a highly soluble, digestible and palatable “first feed”. The energy sources used are lactose, sucrose and dextrose. Digestible amino acid sources include animal plasma, dried whey, dried milk, whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, spray dried animal blood cells and fish meal.

OTHER FEATURES

• Acidified with BlueLite® - Acidification aids in protein digestion and inhibits E coli growth
• Live Beneficial Microbials on Outside of Pellet - To encourage healthy gut microbial populations and provide “competitive exclusion” of pathogenic microbes
• Live Yeast Strain - Specific non-ruminant yeast strain that improves pig performance
• Organic Trace Minerals - Highly available sources for faster absorption and improved immunity
• Amino Acid Balanced - Use of crystalline amino acids to provide correct levels without excess protein level
• MOS & FOS - Mannan & fructo-oligosaccharides - energy sources for beneficial bacteria in gut and attaches to pathogenic bacteria so they can not bind to gut lining and cause disease; also improve nonspecific immunity
• Betaine – An osmolyte which helps cells maintain water balance similar to electrolytes, but betaine requires cells to use less energy for maintaining cell electrolyte levels which lowers maintenance energy
• High Level of Sweeteners & Flavors - Flavors and palatability factors are contained both internally and on outside of pellet

DIRECTIONS FOR USE
ICG can be fed to small piglets dry or as gruel to aid in transitioning weaned or orphan pigs to conventional starter pellets. For feeding dry, use the steps below without the water added.
STEP 1: Mix 8 ounces of ICG with 4 to 6 ounces of warm water and stir to form a gruel. Feed this amount of gruel for every 8-10 pigs or a small amount that the pigs will clean up within 30 minutes. Feed about 4-5 hours after weaning. Repeat feeding 4-5 hours after initial feeding.
STEP 2: Mix 4 ounces of ICG and 4 ounces of conventional starter pellets with 4 to 6 ounces of warm water and stir to form a gruel and feed to 8-10 pigs.
STEP 3: For subsequent feedings, gradually decrease the amount of water and ICG and increase the amount of starter pellet when mixing the gruel. This will reduce the problems associated with transitioning small pigs to dry starter feed.

Offer ICG in a shallow J-bolt feeder or mat in small amounts and feed frequently to maintain freshness and encourage consumption. Store ICG in a clean, dry feed room to  maintain freshness. Expected consumption is 2 to 16 ounces.

Precaution: For very small or orphan pigs using Baby Pig Restart™ One-4 as part or all of the gruel protocol may be beneficial. Piglets too weak to start eating can be drenched with Baby Pig Restart One-4 (4 ounces of Baby Pig Restart in 8 ounces of water).

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