The influence of dietary energy intake on growth performance and tissue deposition in pigs between 80 and 120 kg liveweight
R. H. King A , R. G. Campbell B C , R. J. Smits B , W. C. Morley B , K. Ronnfeldt B , K. L. Butler A and F. R. Dunshea A D EA Department of Primary Industries, 600 Sneydes Rd, Werribee, Vic. 3030, Australia.
B QAF Meat Industries, PO Box 78, Corowa, NSW 2646, Australia.
C Present address: Ausgene International, PO Box 68, Gridley, Illinois, 61744, USA.
D Institute of Land and Food Resources, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: Frank.Dunshea@dpi.vic.gov.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55(12) 1271-1281 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04041
Submitted: 19 February 2004 Accepted: 8 November 2004 Published: 21 December 2004
Abstract
Eighty crossbred pigs of a composite genotype were allocated at 80 kg liveweight to a 2 × 5 factorial experiment involving 2 sexes (boars and gilts) and 5 levels of dietary energy intake ranging from about 55% estimated ad libitum up to 100% ad libitum intake. The diet was formulated to be protein-adequate and contained 14.4 MJ DE/kg and 0.55 g available lysine/MJ DE and the pigs were slaughtered at approximately 120 kg liveweight. Growth rate and food conversion efficiency increased linearly, in response to increasing digestible energy (DE) intake, with boars consistently out-performing gilts at each level of DE intake. Protein deposition rate in the whole empty body of pigs was consistently higher in boars than in gilts and linearly related to DE intake in both sexes, with no evidence of a plateau at high energy intakes, suggesting no intrinsic limit to protein deposition in these pigs up to 120 kg liveweight. When pigs were offered the protein-adequate diet ad libitum between 80 and 120 kg liveweight, boars and gilts consumed 47.7 and 40.9 MJ DE/day, respectively, and protein deposition rates in the whole empty body of pigs reached 247 and 182 g/day, respectively. Maintenance energy requirements were estimated to be 351 kJ DE/kg0.75.day for both boars and gilts [maximal model; including nominal DE level (treated as a 5-level factor), actual DE intake (treated as a continuous variable), and sex (treated as a 2-level factor)] or 506 and 566 kJ DE/kg0.75.day for boars and gilts, respectively [reduced model; including actual DE intake (treated as a continuous variable) and sex (treated as a 2-level factor)]. Statistical analyses show that the maximal model reflects the data more closely than the minimal model, suggesting that the lower maintenance estimate of 351 kJ DE/kg0.75.day could reflect reality better. In conclusion, genetically improved boars, and to a lesser extent gilts, have a high capacity for lean growth, and their upper limit to protein retention might not be reached below about 120 kg liveweight.
Additional keywords: lean deposition, sex, swine, body composition.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr Ian McCauley for androstenone and skatole analysis, Dr Robyn Warner for meat quality measurements, Peter Rich for assistance in data collation, and Maurie Miles for conducting the grinding and sampling of the carcass and viscera of pigs in these experiments. The financial support of Australian Pork Limited (formally Pig Research and Development Corporation) is also gratefully acknowledged.
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