Effects of Ingredients of Plant and Animal Origin on Nursery Pig Performance

At the 2012 Kansas Swine Industry Day, K.J. Jones and colleagues reported that the inclusion of animal products (plasma protein and fish meal) and soybean meal (30 per cent of the diet) enhanced the performance of weaners.

26 December 2012

3 minute read

By: Banrie

A total of 224 weanling pigs were used in a 34-day growth assay. The pigs were sorted by gender and ancestry, blocked by bodyweight, and assigned to pens (seven pigs per pen; eight pens per treatment) in a randomised complete block design.

From days 0 to 10, treatments were arranged as a 2×2 factorial with main effects of primary protein sources (plant versus animal) and inclusion of soybean meal (none versus 30 per cent). The plant products diets had wheat gluten and corn gluten, and the animal products diets had animal plasma and fish meal as primary protein sources. All diets were formulated to be at least 120, 120 and 110 per cent of the requirements for all essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals, respectively, as suggested in NRC guidelines. Soybean meal replaced corn in the diet to create the diets containing soybean meal.

From days 10 to 34, all pigs were fed the same corn-soybean meal–based diets to allow determination of any carry-over effects (or disappearance thereof) for the diets fed for the first 10 days immediately after weaning.

No interactions were observed for days 0 to 10, 10 to 34 or 0 to 34 (P>0.12) among primary protein source and inclusion of soybean meal for average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) or feed to gain ratio (F/G).

The use of animal products increased (P<0.02) ADG by 61 per cent for days 0 to 10 and seven per cent for days 0 to 34, respectively.

Soybean meal increased (P<0.001) ADG by 31 per cent for days 0 to 10 and tended to improve overall ADG (P<0.07) by five per cent, thus, Jones and co-authors concluded that use of animal products (plasma protein and fish meal) and inclusion of soybean meal (30 per cent of the diet) enhanced growth performance in weanling pigs.

Reference

Jones K.M., K.M. Sotak, S.A. Lawson and J.D. Hancock. 2012. Effects of ingredients of plant and animal origin on nursery pig performance. Proceedings of the Kansas State University Swine Industry Day 2012, p86-89.