• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.593-600
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• 2006

The effects of breed and sex on individual growth performance and feeding behaviour were studied between 45 and 90 kg BW in two replicates of forty group-housed pigs. The first and the second replicates were carried out during the warm season (i.e. between February and April 2003) and during the hot season (i.e. between August and October 2003), respectively. During the warm season, ambient temperature and relative humidity averaged $25.3^{\circ}C$ and 86.0%. The corresponding values for the hot season were $27.9^{\circ}C$ and 83.6%. The pigs were grouped in pens of 10 animals on the basis of breed (Creole or Large White) and sex (gilt or castrated male) and given ad libitum access to a grower diet (9.0 MJ/kg net energy and 158 g/kg crude protein) via feed intake recording equipment (Acema 48). An ear-tag transponder was inserted into each pig and this allowed the time, duration, and size of individual visits to be recorded. The growth performance and feeding pattern were significantly affected by breed, sex, and season. The Creole pigs (CR) had a lower average daily gain (ADG) (642 vs. 861 g/d, p<0.01) and carcass lean content ($LC_{90kg}$) (35.4 vs. 54.5%; p<0.01) and a higher backfat thickness at 90 kg BW ($BT_{90kg}$) (23.4 vs. 10.4 mm; p<0.01) than Large White pigs (LW) whereas the average daily feed intake (ADFI) was not affected by breed (2.34 vs. 2.22 kg/d, respectively for CR and LW pigs; p>0.10). Consequently, the food:gain ratio was higher in CR than in LW (3.65 vs. 2.58; p<0.01). CR had less frequent meals but ate more feed per meal than LW (5.9 vs. 8.8 meals/d and 431 vs. 279 g/meal; p<0.01). The rate of feed intake was lower (27.6 vs. 33.9 g/min; p<0.01) and the ingestion time per day and per meal were higher in CR than in LW (87.1 vs. 69.7 min/d and 15.8 vs. 8.4 min/meal; p<0.01). The ADFI and BT90 kg were higher (2.38 vs. 2.17 kg/d and 18.1 vs. 15.9 mm; p<0.05) and LC90 kg was lower (43.5 vs. 46.4%; p<0.01) in castrated males (CM) than in gilts (G) whereas ADG was not affected by sex (p = 0.12). The difference in lean content between CM and G was greater in CR than in LW. The ADFI and ADG were reduced during the hot season (2.18 vs.2.38 kg/d and 726 vs. 777 g/d, respectively; p<0.05) whereas feed conversion and carcass lean content were not affected by season (p>0.05). Average feeding time per meal and meal size decreased during the hot season (10.9 vs. 13.2 min/meal and 316 vs. 396 g/meal; p<0.01) whereas the rate of feed intake was not affected by season (p = 0.83). On average, 0.69 of total feed intake was consumed during the diurnal period. However, this partition of feed intake was significantly affected by breed, sex, and season. In conclusion, the breed, sex and season significantly affect performance and feeding pattern in growing pigs raised in a tropical climate. Moreover, the results obtained in the present study suggest that differences observed in BW composition between CR and LW are associated with difference in feeding behaviour, in particular, the short-term regulation of feed intake.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.333-339
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• 2011

The present study was performed to investigate the effects of pre- and post-weaning feeding programs on growth of pigs. A total of 24 litters (avg. 10.6 piglets/litter) born from multiparous (Yorkshire ${\times}$ Landrace) dams ${\times}$ Duroc sires were provided with neither creep feed (CF) nor milk replacer ("CON"), 200 gm CF/litter/d from the 15th day of lactation ("MIN"), or CF and milk replacer ad libitum for 7 h during the daytime from the 7th day ("MAX") through weaning at d 21 of age. Sixty-eight weanling pigs selected randomly from each of CON and MIN were provided with phases 1, 2 and 3 nursery diets for 7, 14, and 13 days, respectively, in two pens; an equal number of piglets from MAX received the same diets for 6, 10, and 18 days, respectively. Subsequently, all pigs were fed grower 1 and 2 diets sequentially up to d 95 and 135, respectively. The entire pre- and post-weaning feeding trial was repeated three times under a split-plot design of experiment. Initial and final weights and ADG of the suckling pigs did not differ between MAX/MIN and CON. However, final wt of MAX adjusted for initial wt, which was 0.17-kg less in MAX than in CON, was greater than that of CON by 0.31kg, whereas the difference between MIN and CON in final wt barely changed after the adjustment. Growth of the animals during the nursery and growing phases was not affected by the feeding program, whereas d 55 and 135 BW, as well as d 6 BW, were highly correlated with weaning weight (r=0.81, 0.57, and 0.76; P<0.001, <0.05, and <0.001, respectively). In conclusion, results suggest that provision of creep feed and milk replacer from early lactation may be effective for increasing weight gain of light piglets, but that limited provision of creep feed during late lactation or extension of the duration of phases 1 and 2 vs. 3 nursery diets for several days is unlikely to influence the growth of pigs during the corresponding and subsequent periods.