Effect of variety, growing region and growing season on digestible energy content of wheats grown in Western Australia for weaner pigs

An experiment was conducted to examine the digestible energy (DE) content for weanling pigs in a cohort of wheats grown in Western Australia, and to establish relationships between DE content and their chemical composition. The 3 5 3 5 2 factorial experiment examined the wheat variety (Arrino, Stiletto and Westonia), growing location (high, medium and low rainfall zone) and harvest year (1999 and 2000). Pigs (no. = 5 per diet) aged about 28 days were given a diet at a level of 0.05 5 live weight containing 900 g/kg of the wheat and an acid-insoluble ash marker for 10 days, with samples of faeces collected from each pig for the final 5 days. The average live weight of pigs was 6.6 (s.d. 0.77) kg. The DE content of wheats harvested in 1999 varied by up to 1.3 MJ/kg, while wheats harvested in 2000 varied by up to 1.8 MJ/kg. When the 2 years' data were combined, the DE content ranged from 12.5 to 14.4 MJ/kg. Both the variety and growing region significantly influenced (P 0.05) with the wheats harvested in 2000. In addition, the precipitation level (mm) during the growing season of wheats was strongly correlated (r = -0.821, P < 0.01) to the DE content of wheat in year 1999, but was not correlated in 2000. The results indicate that the genetic and environmental conditions during the growth of wheat have a significant impact on the utilization of plant energy in weaner pigs, and that greater attention needs to be paid to these influences in the assignment of energy values for wheats given to weaner pigs

Efficacy of a reduced protein diet on clinical expression of post-weaning diarrhoea and life-time performance after experimental challenge with an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli

Previous experiments have shown that feeding a reduced protein diet within the first 2 weeks post-weaning reduces gastrointestinal protein fermentation and clinical expression of post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD). However, growth of young pigs receiving a reduced protein diet without crystalline essential amino acids (CEAA) supplementation is depressed after weaning. It has been argued that the short-term performance reduction caused by feeding a reduced protein diet would be compensated and the lifetime performance of pigs would not be affected. An experiment was therefore conducted to examine PWD and lifetime growth of pigs after feeding a reduced protein diet without and with CEAA supplementation for 2 weeks after weaning. Two hundred individually housed pigs weaned at 21 d of age (Large White×Landrace, castrate:female ratio of 1:1, mean±SEM body weight of 5.5±0.05kg) were stratified to one of four dietary treatments (n=50): High protein+antimicrobial compound diet (HP+AMC, 230g crude protein (CP) with 2.5g lincospectin and 3g zinc oxide per kg feed), High protein diet (HP, 230gCP/kg), Reduced protein+amino acid supplemented diet (RP+AA, 185gCP/kg with added CEAA up to HP level), and Reduced protein diet (RP, 185g CP/kg without CEAA supplementation). Pigs were fed the experimental diet for 2 weeks and then all pigs were fed the same series of commercial diets until slaughter. All pigs were experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (6 and 10mL of 1.9×109cfu/mL, serotype O149:K91:K88) at 72, and 96h after weaning. Infection increased plasma haptoglobin levels (P0.05). Carcass characteristics were not affected (P>0.05) by the treatments. The results indicate that although feeding a RP diet without CEAA supplementation decreased performance after weaning, it did not influence lifetime performance or carcass characteristics and reduced the clinical expression of PWD

Performance and intestinal responses to dehulling and inclusion level of Australian sweet lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.) in diets for weaner pigs

A total of 180 entire male weaner pigs weighing 6.4 ± 0.1. kg (mean ± SEM) and housed in pairs was used in a completely randomised block design with 9 dietary treatments (n= 10 pens). Pigs were blocked based on weaning weight. The diets were (i) a wheat-based control diet containing 240. g/kg of milk products (whey and skim milk powder), and (ii) 8 diets containing whole or dehulled lupins (cv. Coromup) that substituted the milk products at 60, 120, 180 and 240. g/kg of diet (replace 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the milk products in the control diets). The diets were isoenergetic [15. MJ digestible energy (DE)/kg], and were formulated to contain the same ileal standardised digestible lysine content (0.85. g/MJ DE) and ideal patterns of other essential amino acids. Pigs receiving 240. g/kg of dehulled lupins grew slower (P<0.05) than pigs fed the other diets mainly due to decreased feed intake. Pigs fed diets containing more than 180. g/kg of dehulled lupins had a higher faecal β-haemolytic Escherichia coli score on day 3 after weaning (P<0.05). Moreover, inclusion of 240. g/kg of whole lupin or more than 180. g/kg of dehulled lupins increased (P<0.001) plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) levels. Total tract apparent digestibility (TTAD) of dry matter decreased (P<0.001) in all lupin diets compared with the control diet. These data indicate that inclusion of dehulled lupin immediately after weaning should be limited to less than 180. g/kg whilst whole lupins can be included up to 240. g/kg without deleterious effects on production and intestinal health

Opportunities and strategies to reduce effluent production by pigs

There is increasing concern about the impact that agriculture is having on the environment. As far as the pig industry is concerned, a significant proportion of nutrients that are fed to pigs end up in the effluent. There are two basic options for reducing the amount of effluent produced by pigs. The first is to reduce the oversupply of nutrients being fed, and the second is to improve the efficiency with which nutrients are utilized by the animal. In this paper some of the strategies that currently exist for reducing the output of N and P in piggery waste are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to the use of computer modelling techniques to calculate the nutrient requirement of pigs at various stages of growth, and feeding strategies that make greater use of synthetic amino acids and enzymes

Low levels of copper and zinc proteinates maintain a normal mineral status in growing and finishing pigs

A significant reduction in the levels of copper (Cu) (90%) and zinc (Zn) (40%) in the faeces of growing pigs was achieved without affecting pig growth when the inclusion level (IL) of Cu in the diet decreased from 50 ppm to 0 ppm Cu, and Zn from 80 to 40 ppm, both in the Bioplex® form (Hernandez et al, 2007). However it is important to establish if these low mineral levels enabled a normal mineral status to be maintained in the pigs. During digestion, minerals interact with each other and also with digesta components (e.g. phytate), which reduces the amount of each mineral that is absorbed. However it is likely that such interaction is less when minerals are supplied in the organic form due to the protection offered by the amino acid or peptides to which the mineral is chelated during manufacturing (Fairweather-Tait, 1996). In this study we examined the effect of feeding increasing IL of Cu together with low (treatments 1-4) or high (treatments 5-8) IL of Zn in the Bioplex® form on the status of biochemical markers of Cu, Zn and Fe in growing pigs

Minimum inclusion levels of copper and zinc proteinate maintain performance and reduce faecal excretion in growing and finishing pigs

Hernandez et al (200S) found that total dietary levels of 25 ppm copper (Cu) and 40 ppm zinc (Zn), in the sulphate or proteinate form (Bioplex®), reduced the concentration of Cu and Zn in faeces by 80 and 60% respectively and maintained the growth of growing pigs, compared to a diet containing 160 ppm of both Cu and Zn. These results indicated reduced levels of supplemental Cu and Zn might be possible. In the present study we therefore measured the impact of increasing inclusion levels (IL) of Cu together with low (treatments 1-4) or high (treatments S-8) IL of Zn in the Bioplex® form on performance and faecal levels

Relationship between the quantity and quality of carbohydrates and the digestible energy content of wheats for weaner pigs

The aim of this study was to establish correlations between the quantity and quality of carbohydrates and the digestible energy (DE) content of wheats fed to weaner pigs

Production responses to dehulling and level of inclusion of Australian Sweet lupins (Lupinus angustifolius) in weaner pig diets

It is generally perceived that high quality energy and protein sources in diets for newly-weaned pigs, such as milk powders, lactose and cooked cereals, promote better performance after weaning. However, their higher cost and stability of supply sometimes requires nutritionists to explore potential for other ingredients for use in the formulation of weaner diets. Recent research in grower pigs demonstrated that lupins could be included at up to 350g/kg in place of soybean meal, without compromising growth, carcase composition or meat quality (Kim et al., 2007). However, the use of lupins in a weaner diet to reduce or replace more expensive protein sources, such as milk products, has not been examined to date. The hypothesis tested was that increasing the concentration of whole or dehulled Australian sweet lupins in place of milk by-products such as skim milk powder and dried whey in a diet would reduce performance of weaner pigs

Influence of the form and level of copper and zinc supplementation on mineral status of grower and finisher pigs

Organic forms of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) induce higher growth rates than inorganic forms. The higher growth rates of pigs fed organic Cu and Zn are thought to be because organic forms of the minerals are absorbed better than inorganic forms (Coffey et al., 1994) and that they may result in greater plasma mineral concentrations (Hahn and Baker, 1993) and/or higher organ mineral stores in pigs (Apgar et al., 1995). However, an effect of mineral form on these indices has not always been demonstrated (Wedekind et al., 1994). The aim of this experiment was to compare the effect of Cu and Zn fed in the form of Bioplex® or sulphate at two levels of dietary inclusion on the mineral status of growing and finishing pigs