Abstract
A total of 125 pigs (5.8 kg of BW) were allotted in a completely randomized block design. Treatments were coconut oil, corn oil, soybean oil, tallow and tallow+lecithin. Each treatment had 5 replicates with 5 pigs per replicate. From d 0 to 7, pigs fed vegetable oil supported greater average daily gain (ADG) and improved feed/gain (F/G) compared to pigs fed the animal fat. Addition of lecithin to tallow increased ADG by 7.2%. Feed intake were similar for all treatment groups. From d 8 to 14, pigs fed coconut oil and soy oil showed better ADG and average daily feed intake (ADFI) than any of the others. From d 15 to 21, pigs fed the tallow diets had lower gains (p < 0.05) than those fed diets that contained vegetable oil and tallow with added lecithin. The effect of different fat sources on gain became smaller with age. Feed intakes were similar between the vegetable oil and lecithin supplemented diets each week postweaning except for pigs fed tallow (p < 0.05). Feed : gain ratios were superior during the initial 2 weeks postweaning period when pigs were provided vegetable oil diet compared with pigs fed tallow. All pig groups had similar feed : gain ratios during 3 weeks. Combinations of tallow with lecithin tended to have intermediate feed/gain ratio. It was found that vegetable oils were much better in improving growth rate of the piglets. Lecithin significantly improved growth rate and feed efficiency of the pigs through the whole experimental period compared to tallow. Coconut oil was the most effective in improving growth of pigs during the first two weeks postweaning. Corn oil had equal value with soy oil in improving growth performance of weaned pigs. When vegetable oil was added, the digestibilities of nutrients except for minerals were higher than when the tallow was fed. Nutrients digestibility was similar among vegetable oils. The addition of lecithin to tallow increased digestibility of gross energy, dry matter, ether extract and crude protein. Crude ash and phosphorus digestibility were not affected by the treatments. Dry matter excretion was not different among treatments except for tallow which showed significantly higher dry matter excretion (p < 0.05), while nitrogen excretion was significantly decreased in pigs fed vegetable oil sources. However, Phosphorus excretion was not affected by the different fat sources.