The effect of adding a feed flavour to the diets of young pigs before and after weaning

Abstract

Sixteen sows and their progeny were allotted to treatments in a 23 factorial experiment involving two levels of feed flavour (0 and 50 ppm of Firanor No. 24) in each of the sow, creep and starter diets. Weaning occurred at a mean piglet age of 26.9 days and observations continued for 31 days after weaning. The feed flavour, when added to the sow diet, was incorporated in sow's milk; milk from one sow fed the flavoured diet contained 9 ppm of Firanor No. 24. The addition of the feed flavour to the creep diet failed to improve creep feed consumption or weaning weight; the average daily creep feed intake and daily growth rate prior to weaning being 47.8 g/head and 207 g/head, respectively. During the postweaning period, pigs that were weaned from sows receiving the flavour and then given the flavoured starter diet ate more feed (P<0.05) and tended to grow faster (839 and 400 g day-1, respectively) than pigs given the unflavoured starter diet, or those weaned from sows given no flavour; their average feed intake and growth rate being 764 and 362 g day-1, respectively.