Evaluation of solvent-extracted canola meal for growing pigs and lactating sows

Abstract

The response of weaner pigs, grower/finisher pigs, and lactating sows to inclusion levels of solventextracted canola meal up to 250, 300, and 202 g/kg, respectively, was examined in 3 experiments. The average composition of the canola meal used in the experiments was 884 g DM/kg, 376 g CP/kg, 41 g fat/kg, 21.6 g lysine/kg, 12.4 MJ digestible energy (DE)/kg, and 4.5 mol glucosinolates/g. In all experiments, canola meal replaced other common protein sources in equal DE and equal lysine diets that were offered ad libitum to pigs. In Expt 1, 49 male pigs were weaned at 19.6 days of age and 6.27 kg liveweight and allocated to 7 diets containing 0–250 g/kg of canola meal for 42 days. Growth rate and voluntary feed intake were not significantly affected by level of canola meal up to 250 g/kg. However, there was a significant linear response in feed conversion ratio (FCR), indicating that as the level of canola meal increased, feed efficiency was improved. In Expt 2, pigs were randomly allocated at about 63 days of age and 24 kg liveweight to 16 group pens, each containing 12 pigs. Four pens were each allocated to one of 4 diets containing 0–300 g/kg canola meal up to slaughter at 140 days of age when pigs were approximately 97 kg liveweight. Canola meal level had no significant effect on growth performance, carcass quality, or weight of the thyroid gland. In Expt 3, 386 mixed parity sows were randomly allocated over a 70-day period to diets containing 0, 101, and 202 g/kg of canola meal that were offered during the lactation period of about 25 days. Average piglet growth between Day 3 and weaning was 244 g/day and was unaffected by inclusion level of canola meal in the sow diet. However, there was a significant positive linear response between sow feed intake and canola meal, which was particularly evident in the sows allocated during the initial period of the experiment when environmental temperatures were hotter. Average feed intake during lactation was 5.08, 5.50, and 5.67 for sows offered 0, 101, and 202 g/kg of canola meal, respectively. In conclusion, solvent-extracted canola meal can be included at levels up to 250, 300, and 202 g/kg in weaner pig, grower/finisher pig, and lactating sow diets, respectively, without adversely affecting the performance of these classes of pigs.