Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Improving growth performance of finisher pigs with high fat diets

C. L. Collins A B , A. C. Philpotts A and D. J. Henman A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A QAF Meat Industries, PO Box 78, Redlands Road, Corowa, NSW 2646, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: chcollins@qafmeats.com.au

Animal Production Science 49(3) 262-267 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA08243
Submitted: 29 September 2008  Accepted: 6 November 2008   Published: 2 March 2009

Abstract

A total of 1296 pigs (Large White × Landrace) were selected at 16 weeks of age and used to investigate the effects of supplemental dietary fat concentration on finisher growth performance. Pigs were selected at an average weight of 64.0 kg and allocated to a 2 × 6 factorial experiment with the respective factors being sex (entire male and female) and supplemental dietary fat concentration (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6% added tallow). All pigs were offered the respective diets ad libitum from 16 weeks of age through to slaughter at 21 weeks of age. Over the entire 5-week period, feed : gain ratio improved linearly with increasing supplemental fat concentration (P < 0.001), reducing from 2.60 to 2.44 with an increase in dietary fat concentration from 1 to 6%. Improvements in daily gain were more pronounced during the initial 14-day feeding period, increasing linearly (P = 0.002) from 844 g/day (1% fat) to 942 g/day (6% fat). Carcass weight also improved linearly (P = 0.009), increasing from 74.1 kg (1% fat) to 75.8 kg (6% fat). A greater response was observed in the males, with an increase in supplemental fat concentration from 1 to 6% improving daily gain by 7%, reducing the feed: gain ratio from 2.55 to 2.31 and improving profit per pig by AU$4.17. The effects of increasing dietary fat concentration were more moderate in females, with potential profit increases of AU$1.47. These results suggest that adding up to 6% supplemental fat to finisher diets improves profit under Australian conditions, with the benefits greater in male than female pigs. The economic impact of such a feeding strategy will, however, depend on the pig’s genetic propensity for fat deposition and the pricing system in which the pigs are sold.

Additional keywords: energy, nutrition.


Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Research and Innovation staff at QAF Meat Industries for their assistance with this investigation. The financial support of the Australian Pork Cooperative Research Centre is also gratefully acknowledged.


References


Brooke G (2007) The last word on fat for finisher pigs – maybe? Pork CRC Newsletter 2(2) June 2007, 4.

Brooke G , Edwards AC , Pluske JR , Pethick DW , Howarth GS , Campbell RG , Dunshea FR (2007) Supplemental dietary fat increases growth performance of grower and finisher pigs. In ‘Manipulating pig production XI’. (Eds JE Paterson, JA Barker) p. 92. (Australasian Pig Science Association: Werribee, Vic.)

Campbell RG (2005) Fats in pig diets: beyond their contribution to energy content. In ‘Recent advances in animal nutrition in Australia’. (Eds PB Cronje, N Richards) pp. 15–19. (The University of New England: Armidale, NSW)

Campbell RG, Taverner MR (1988) Genotype and sex effects on the relationship between energy intake and protein deposition in growing pigs. Journal of Animal Science 66, 676–686. open url image1

De la Llata M, Dritz SS, Tokach MD, Goodband RD, Nelssen JL, Loughin TM (2001) Effects of dietary fat on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs reared in a commercial environment. Journal of Animal Science 79, 2643–2650. open url image1

Dunshea FR, King RH, Eason PJ, Campbell RG (1998) Interrelationships between dietary ractopamine, energy intake, and sex in pigs. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49, 565–574.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Gregory PC, Rayner DV (1987) The influence of gastrointestinal infusion of fats on regulation of food intake in pigs. Journal of Physiology 385, 471–481. open url image1

King RH, Campbell RG, Smits RJ, Morley WC, Ronnfeldt K, Butler KL, Dunshea FR (2004) The influence of dietary energy intake on growth performance and tissue deposition in pigs between 80 and 120 kg liveweight. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55, 1271–1281.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Linneen SK, DeRouchey JM, Goodband RD, Tokach MD, Dritz SS, Nelssen JL, Snow JL (2008) Evaluation of NutriDense low-phytate corn and added fat in growing and finishing swine diets. Journal of Animal Science 86, 1556–1561.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Payne RW , Harding SA , Genstat Committee (2005) ‘Genstat release 8. Reference manual.’ (VSN International: Oxford)

Rao DS, McCracken KJ (1992) Energy:protein interactions in growing boars of high genetic potential for lean growth. 2. Effects on chemical composition of gain and whole-body protein turn-over. Animal Production 54, 83–93. open url image1

Rayner DV, Miller S (1993) Voluntary intake and gastric emptying in pigs: effects of fat and a CCK inhibitor. Physiology & Behavior 54, 917–922.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

SCA (1987) ‘Feeding standards for Australian livestock. Pigs.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Weber TE, Richert BT, Belury MA, Gu Y, Enright K, Schinckel AP (2006) Evaluation of the effects of dietary fat, conjugated linoleic acid, and ractopamine on growth performance, pork quality, and fatty acid profiles in genetically lean gilts. Journal of Animal Science 84, 720–732. open url image1