The effects of rapeseed meal on the growth, feed intake, feed utilization and carcase characteristics of grower finisher pigs

Abstract

The effects of replacing part or all of meat meal with rapeseed meal as the only protein supplement to diets based on wheat and fed to grower and finisher pigs were studied in two experiments using a factorial design which included two levels of feeding (restricted and ad libitum), two levels of lysine (0 and 0.3 per cent lysine HCl) and two sexes (gilt and barrow). When the intake of pigs was restricted rapeseed meal was able to replace 50 per cent of the meat meal protein without affecting growth performance. However, when rapeseed meal comprised greater than 14 per cent of the diet there was a depression in performance. Under ad libitum feeding conditions the replacement of any meat meal by rapeseed meal depressed performance apparently due to a lack of palatability of rapeseed meal. Diets based on wheat and supplemented with meat meal alone or with up to 75 per cent of meat meal protein replaced by rapeseed meal protein were found limiting in lysine content for growing pigs but adequate for finishing pigs.