• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.1035-1040
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• 2003

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of fat sources on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, serum traits and intestinal morphology in weaning pigs. A total of 128 weaning pigs (Landrace${\times}$Large White${\times}$Duroc, $21{\pm}2$ days of age, $5.82{\pm}0.13kg$ of average initial body weight) were allotted in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with four treatments: 1) corn oil, 2) soybean oil, 3) tallow and 4) fish oil. Each treatment had 8 replicates with 4 pigs per pen. During phase I period (d 0 to 14), pigs fed corn oil or soybean oil diet tended to show higher ADG and FCR than any other treatments although there was no significant difference. During phase II period (d 15 to 28), pigs fed corn oil diet showed better ADG and ADFI than pigs fed soybean oil, tallow or fish oil. For overall period, growth performance of weaning pigs was improved (p<0.05) when pigs were fed soybean oil or corn oil. Apparent digestibility of energy and fat was improved when pigs were fed corn oil diet (p<0.05). Supplementation of corn oil resulted in higher serum triglyceride concentration than the other treatments (p<0.05). However, there was a lower cholesterol concentration when corn oil was provided compared to tallow or fish oil. Pigs fed corn oil tended to have increased villus height compared with soybean oil, tallow or fish oil treatment (p<0.05). This experiment suggested that vegetable oils such as corn oil or soybean oil, were much better fat source for improving growth performance of weaning pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1580-1586
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to compare the bioefficacy of L-lysine sulfate relative to L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl for 10 to 20 kg pigs. Two experiments were conducted to determine the bioefficacy of the two sources of lysine using daily gain, feed conversion, plasma urea nitrogen and nitrogen retention as the response criteria. In experiment 1, 168 crossbred barrows ($Landrace{\times}Large$ White), weaned at $28{\pm}3$ d ($9.07{\pm}0.78$kg body weight), were allotted to one of seven dietary treatments in a $2{\times}3$ (two lysine $sources{\times}three $ lysine levels) factorial arrangement of treatments with an added negative control treatment group. The basal diet was based on corn, peanut meal and soybean meal and provided 0.67% lysine. The basal diet was supplemented with 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3% lysine equivalents supplied from either L-lysine sulfate or L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl. Each treatment was fed to six pens of pigs with four pigs per pen. The trial lasted 21 days. The relative bioefficacy value of lysine in L-lysine sulfate using daily gain, feed conversion and plasma urea nitrogen as response criteria was 1.01, 1.05 and 1.04 of the lysine in L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl, respectively. In experiment 2, 42 crossbred ($Landrace{\times}Large$ White) pigs ($16.03{\pm}1.58$ kg body weight) were housed in stainless steel metabolism cages for 10 d and fed the seven diets used in the nitrogen-balance trial. The relative bioefficacy value of L-lysine sulfate was estimated to be 0.95 as effective as L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl for nitrogen retention on an equimolar basis. The t-test analysis revealed that bioefficacy of lysine in L-lysine sulfate was not significantly different from lysine in L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl, which was set at 1.00. In conclusion, L-lysine sulfate can be used instead of L-lysine${\cdot}$HCl to fortify lysine-deficient diets fed to 10 to 20 kg pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.1309-1315
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• 2000

Sixteen Large $White{\times}Landrace$ pigs 12 weeks of age, with an average body weight of $22.9{\pm}2.12kg$ were fed four experimental diets; a commercial grain-based grower diet (control); or a diet containing 20% of either sun-dried leucaena leaf meal (LLM), water soaked LLM or $FeSO_4-treated$ LLM, replacing the basal diet. There was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in live weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) in pigs fed the diet containing sun-dried LLM. Growth rate, feed intake and FCE were not affected by the addition of water-soaked and FeSO4-treated LLM to the basal diet. Triiodothyronine $(T_3)$ and thyroxine $(T_4)$ levels in the blood plasma were not affected by the dietary treatments. Addition of $FeSO_4-treated$ LLM to the basal diet significantly (p<0.05) reduced the back fat thickness of the pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1554-1560
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• 2000

Ninety-six crossbred (Large White${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Duroc) pigs, weaned at 35 days of age, were assigned to four dietary treatments in order to investigate the effects of oral antibiotics on the performance and the intestinal microflora of weanling pigs. Pigs were fed either a basal diet, without antibiotics, or the basal diet plus either 50 ppm acetylspiramycin, 50 ppm olaquindox, or 100 ppm bacitracin zinc. The pigs were housed eight per pen with three pens per treatment in an environmentally controlled nursery. Ten days after weaning, three pigs from each treatment were slaughtered and intestinal pH, microflora, and volatile fatty acid concentration were determined. At the end of the 4 week trial, the remaining pigs were weighed and feed consumption was measured. Average daily gains for pigs fed acetylspiramycin, olaquindox, bacitracin zinc and the control diet were 0.43, 0.40, 0.37, and 0.34 kg per day (p=0.001), respectively. Antibiotic addition did not modify feed intake, but acetylspiramycin improved feed conversion (p=0.003). In comparison with the control, acetylspiramycin significantly increased Bifidobacteria numbers in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014) and decreased total bacterial counts throughout the intestine (p<0.01 except for the ileum where p=0.079). Acetate production was significantly lower in the cecum (p=0.028) and colon (p=0.079) of pigs fed acetylspiramycin. In addition to increasing numbers of Bifidobacteria in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014), olaquindox increased Lactobacillus in the jejunum (p=0.004) and decreased E. coli in the colon (p=0.022). Bacitracin zinc increased Lactobacillus numbers in the jejunum (p=0.004) and Bifidobacterium concentrations in the jejunum (p=0.082) and ileum (p=0.014).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 2001

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of crystalline isoleucine supplementation of a low protein, corn-soybean meal diet on the performance and immune function of weanling pigs. Forty-five crossbred ($Duroc{\times}Landrace{\times}Large\;White$) piglets, weighing an average of $11.00{\pm}0.07kg$, were assigned to either a control diet containing 20% crude protein (0.64% isoleucine), a 16% crude protein diet without isoleucine supplementation (0.41% isoleucine) or a 16% crude protein diet supplemented with isoleucine (0.64% isoleucine). Reducing the crude protein content of the diet from 20 to 16% significantly (p<0.05) reduced both average daily gain and feed intake. Feed conversion also tended (p=0.07) to be poorer for a low protein diet without isoleucine supplementation. Isoleucine supplementation of the 16% crude protein diet increased both gain and feed intake to a level similar to that obtained by pigs fed the 20% crude protein diet (p>0.05). Blood urea nitrogen, serum total protein and serum globulin were significantly (p<0.05) higher for pigs fed the unsupplemented 16% crude protein diet than for pigs fed the isoleucine-supplemented diet or the control. Egg albumin antibody titre decreased significantly (p<0.05) in pigs fed the diet with isoleucine supplementation, whereas the antibody titre of pigs fed the low protein and low isoleucine diet was similar to that of pigs fed the diet containing 20% crude protein and 0.64% isoleucine. It was suggested that crystalline isoleucine supplementation of a low protein and low isoleucine diet improved pig performance but suppressed humoral immune function.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.1434-1439
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• 2001

Eighty crossbred pigs (Large White x Landrace) weighing 9.9 kg were assigned on the basis of sex, weight and Jitter to one of five dietary treatments in a factorial $(5\;treatments\;{\times}2\;sexes)$ arrangement to compare the nutritive value of hulled and dehulled peas fed with or without enzyme (0.25% Allzyme PF and 0.5% Biogal-S). A barley and soybean meal diet served as a control. Eight castrates and eight gilts were fed each diet. Digestibility coefficients for dry matter, crude protein and energy were higher for diets containing dehulled peas than hulled peas. In addition, enzyme supplementation modestly increased the digestibility of all three nutrients. Over the entire experimental period (9.9 to 103.3 kg), there were no performance differences (p>0.05) between pigs fed soybean meal based diets or diets based on any of the pea products. In addition, there were no differences in performance between pigs fed diets containing hulled or dehulled peas or between pigs fed diets with or without dietary enzyme. Castrates gained weight significantly faster, consumed more feed but had a poorer feed conversion than gilts (p<0.05). There were no differences in carcass traits between pigs fed diets based on soybean meal or any of the pea products. Carcass traits were similar for pigs fed hulled or dehulled peas while enzyme supplementation also had no effect on carcass data. Castrate pigs had a lower carcass value index, estimated lean yield and loin lean depth (p<0.05). Loin fat depth was greater for castrates than gilts (p<0.05). The overall results of this experiment provide little support for the need for enzyme supplementation of pea based diets fed to swine. In addition, dehulling did not appreciably improve the nutritive value of peas. Therefore, since the process adds to the cost of the raw product, its use is unlikely to be economical.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.1724-1727
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• 2001

A trial was conducted to evaluate the growth performance and carcass characteristics of LW ${\times}$ Mukota $F_1$ crosses when fed diets containing graded levels of maize cob meal. Sixteen LW ${\times}$ Mukota $F_1$ crossbred pigs of approximately 4.5 months of age, were randomly allocated to four diets that contained 0, 100, 200 and 300 g maize cobs/kg, which corresponded to 276.4, 360.3, 402.9 and 523.5 g NDF/kg, respectively. The pigs were fed ad libitum for 14 weeks. The diets were formulated to contain similar levels of energy (ca. 9MJ ME/kg) and protein (ca.160 g CP/kg). Average daily feed intake (ADFI), daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were monitored for 14 weeks. At slaughter, the cold dressed weight (CDM) and backfat thickness (BFT) were determined. There was no significant linear relationship (p>0.05) between level of cob inclusion and ADFI. The ADG decreased as level of maize cobs increased (p<0.001). The pigs that were on 300 g cobs/kg had the highest FCR (p<0.05) as compared to pigs on the other three diets. No differences (p>0.05) were observed in the CDM between pigs that were fed diets that had 0 and 100 g maize cobs/kg. In addition, pigs on 100 and 200 g cobs/kg diets had the same CDM (p>0.05). The diet that contained 300 g cobs/kg gave the lowest (p< 0.001) CDM. Both BFT parameters showed a decrease (p<0.05) as level of maize cobs increased. An increase in CDM was associated with an increase in BFT (p<0.001), with the correlation coefficient between K7.5 and CDM being 0.84 (p<0.001). It can, therefore, be concluded that crossbred pigs perform well on diets containing up to 200 g/kg maize cobs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1157-1163
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine the effect of the inclusion of different levels of ensiled cassava leaves (variety KM94) in the diets on performance and carcass characteristics of growing pigs in Vietnam. A total of 40 crossbreds pigs (Large White${\times}$Mong Cai, 20 males and 20 females) with an initial live weight of 23.5 kg (SD = 0.86) were randomly allocated to one of the four pens across 5 units. Four experimental diets were formulated for two growth periods, period 1 (60 days) for 20 to 50 kg and period 2 lasted 30 days, from 50 kg until slaughter. Four diets were formulated containing inclusion levels of ensiled cassava KM94 leaves diet of 0, 10, 15 and 20% in the DM. Diets were formulated based on previously determined ileal amino acid digestibility values of the KM94 products and were isonitrogenous and isocaloric on a metabolizable energy basis. Each pen of pigs was randomly assigned to one of the four dietary treatments. Dry matter intake and final weight tended to decreased with increasing levels of ensiled cassava KM94 leaves in the diet while there was a significant (p = 0.022) decrease in average daily gain. Protein depositions of the F1 pigs tended (p = 0.093) to decrease with increasing inclusion levels of ensiled cassava KM94 leaves. There was no significant difference in feed conversion ratio, carcass quality and fat gain between the groups of pigs. There were clear differences in feed costs among the experimental diets (p = 0.001) with increasing levels of ensiled cassava KM 94 leaves in the diet reducing feed costs. It was concluded that, in diets for growing pig, inclusion of ensiled cassava leaves reduces growth rate of pigs in Vietnam but increases profitability as measured by feed costs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.564-572
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• 2013

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effect of decreasing the crude protein (CP) content of diets for finishing pigs containing two levels of available lysine on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen (N) balance and production performance. Ten finishing diets containing five levels of CP (on average 144, 155, 168, 182 and 193 g/kg fresh basis) and two levels of available lysine (6.9 and 8.2 g/kg fresh basis) were formulated. The diets were offered to pigs on a performance trial (n = 800 Large White (LW)${\times}$Landrace (LR) pigs) from 10 wk of age until finish at 21 wks+5 d of age. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. In addition, a digestibility/N balance trial was conducted using pigs (n = 80 $LW{\times}LR$) housed in metabolism crates. Digestibility of dry matter (DM), CP, oil, fibre and energy was determined. N balance values were determined through analysis of N content of urine and faeces ('as determined'). N balance values were also calculated using ADG values and assuming that 16% of growth is protein deposition ("as calculated"). Pig performance was poor between 10 and 13 wk of age which indicated that the dietary treatments were nutritionally inadequate for pigs less than 40 kg. There was a significant (p<0.01) quadratic effect of increasing CP level on feed intake, ADG and FCR from 10 to 13 wk which indicated that the lower CP levels did not supply adequate levels of essential or non-essential amino acids. There was no effect of increasing available lysine level throughout the early period, which in conjunction with the response in older pigs, suggested that both 8.2 and 6.9 g/kg available lysine were insufficient to drive optimum growth. There was a positive response (p<0.05) to increasing available lysine level from 13 wk to finish which indicated that 6.9 g/kg available lysine was not adequate for finishing pigs. Energy digestibility decreased with decreasing CP level of diets containing 6.9 g/kg available lysine which may be attributed to the higher fibre content of the lower CP diets. Nitrogen excretion (g/d) was lowered when dietary CP was reduced regardless of whether the values were determined through balance or calculated using ADG. Calculated N excretion decreased linearly (p<0.001) and quadratically (p<0.001) with decreasing dietary CP content. When the N balance figures calculated in this study were compared with those quoted in the Northern Ireland and English Nitrates Directive Action Programmes, N excretion was less per pig (wean to finish) offered a 169 g/kg CP, 8.2 g/kg available lysine diet (2.39 kg vs 3.41 kg (Northern Ireland) and 2.93 kg (England)).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1614-1621
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of graded levels of montmorillonite, a constituent of clay, on performance, hematological parameters and bone mineralization in weaned pigs. One hundred and twenty, 35-d-old crossbred pigs (Duroc${\times}$Large White${\times}$Landrace, $10.50{\pm}1.20$ kg) were used in a 28-d experiment and fed either an unsupplemented corn-soybean meal basal diet or similar diets supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 2.5 or 5.0% montmorillonite added at the expense of wheat bran. Each treatment was replicated six times with four pigs (two barrows and two gilts) per replicate. Feed intake declined (linear and quadratic effect, p<0.01) with increasing level of montmorillonite while feed conversion was improved (linear and quadratic effect, p<0.01). Daily gain was unaffected by dietary treatment. Plasma myeloperoxidase declined linearly (p = 0.03) with increasing dietary level of montmorillonite. Plasma malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels were quadratically affected (p<0.01) by montmorillonite with increases observed for pigs fed the 0.5 and 1.0% levels which then declined for pigs fed the 2.5 and 5.0% treatments. In bone, the content of potassium, sodium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium were decreased (linear and quadratic effect, p<0.01) in response to an increase of dietary montmorillonite. These results suggest that dietary inclusion of montmorillonite at levels as high as 5.0% does not result in overt toxicity but could induce potential oxidative damage and reduce bone mineralization in pigs.