• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.1091-1100
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• 2023

Objective: The present study is to examine the effect of high inclusion of co-products in pig diets (referred to as an alternative diet) during the finishing stage on pig growth performance, meat quality and boar taint compounds. Methods: Growing pigs were fed an alternative diet made with distillers dried grains with solubles (25%), canola meal (20%), and wheat middling (15%) or a control diet based on barley and soybean meal to investigate the impact of co-products on pig performance and meat quality. Sixteen female and sixteen entire male Duroc×(Large White×Landrace) pigs (22.6±2.07 kg, body weight±standard error) were equally allocated to the diets. Results: Pigs fed the alternative diet had a lower feed intake; however, growth rate and feed conversion efficiency were unaffected by diet. A diet by sex interaction was found for gain:feed whereby males fed the alternative diet had the best feed conversion (p<0.01). Pork from pigs fed the alternative diet had lower a^* and Chroma and protein % (p<0.05), while other meat quality characteristics were unaffected. The alternative diet reduced backfat skatole levels (p<0.001). Conclusion: A diet containing high inclusion levels of co-products can be fed to pigs during the finishing stage without detrimental effects on pig performance or meat quality and with the potential to enhance pork flavour. This finding suggests a solution to increase the sustainable development of pig production.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2005

This study was carried out to measure the environmental related parameters from two types of swine houses. Indoor temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide level, ammonia concentration and emission were measures every 2 minutes from each house with portable monitoring units. Carbon dioxide concentration balance was used to estimate the ventilation rates of the different houses. Daily ammonia concentrations in the growing-finishing and farrowing houses ranged from 2 to 17 ppm and 6 to 15 ppm respectively. The daily ammonia emission rate from the manure averaged 4.37 g/h$\cdot$500 kg from growing-finishing house and 4.82 g/h$\cdot$500 kg from the farrowing house. The above findings proved that summer season was associated with higher ammonia emission rates due to higher ventilation rate and ambient air temperature.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.245-251
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• 2008

The effects of feeding diets containing 20% (L) or 30% (H) neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (DM basis) on performance and carcass traits were studied in three breeds of pig, including pure Mong Cai (MC), crossbred Landrace$\times$Yorkshire (LY) and crossbred MC$\times$Yorkshire (F1). The experiment had a factorial design with two factors, breed and diet. Eighteen piglets of each breed ($60{\pm}3days$) were randomly allocated to three treatments: L-L, low fiber diet in both growing and finishing periods; L-H, low and high fiber diet in the growing and finishing period, respectively; and H-H, high fiber diet in both periods. The diets were iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous within feeding period. The main fibrous ingredients of the diets were rice bran and cassava residue. There were no effects of fiber level on daily dry matter feed intake (DMI), expressed as g/kg metabolic body weight (BW0.75), in both feeding periods (p>0.05). DMI was highest for MC, followed by F1 and LY (p<0.001). Average daily gain (ADG) in L-L and L-H was higher than in H-H in the growing period (p<0.001) and overall (p<0.05), while feed conversion ratio (FCR) was higher in H-H than in L-L and L-H in the growing period (p<0.05) and overall, but no significant differences between treatments were found in the finishing period. In both periods, Landrace$\times$Yorkshire had the highest ADG and the lowest FCR, followed by F1 and Mong Cai (p<0.001). There were no interactions between breed and diet for performance and carcass traits. Carcass and dressing percentage was lower for L-H and H-H than for L-L (p<0.05). There were no significant differences among treatments in back fat thickness and lean meat percentage, or in crude protein and ether extract contents of lean meat. Carcass, dressing and lean meat percentage was highest for LY, lowest for MC and intermediate for F1 (p<0.001). It can be concluded that feeding a high fiber diet in the growing period reduced pig performance, but there was no effect in the finishing period. Pure Mong Cai pigs are not particularly suitable for meat purposes, although the F1 cross with Large White had reasonably good growth performance and carcass quality.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.929-942
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of β-glucan with vitamin E supplementation on the growth performance, blood profiles, immune response, pork quality, pork flavor, and economic benefit in growing and finishing pigs. Methods: A total of 140 growing pigs ([Yorkshire×Landrace]×Duroc) were assigned to five treatments considering sex and initial body weight (BW) in 4 replications with 7 pigs per pen in a randomized complete block design. The experimental diets included a corn-soybean meal-based basal diet with or without 0.05% or 0.1% β-glucan and 0.02% vitamin E. The pigs were fed the diets for 12 weeks (phase I, 0 to 3; phase II, 3 to 6; phase III, 6 to 9; phase IV, 9 to 12). The BW and feed intake were measured at the end of each phase. Blood samples were collected at the end of each phase. Four pigs from each treatment were selected and slaughtered for meat quality. Economic benefit was calculated considering the total feed intake and feed price. Pork flavor was analyzed through inosine monophosphate analysis. Results: The average daily gain and feed efficiency were improved compared to the control when β-glucan or vitamin E was added. Supplementing 0.05% β-glucan significantly increased the lymphocyte concentration compared to the addition of 0.1% β-glucan and the content of vitamin E in the blood increased when 0.02% vitamin E was added. The treatment with 0.1% β-glucan and 0.02% vitamin E showed the most economic effect because it had the shortest days to market weight and the lowest total feed cost. The addition of β-glucan or vitamin E had a positive role in improving the flavor of pork when considering that the content of inosine monophosphate was increased. However, carcass traits and meat quality were not affected by β-glucan or vitamin E. Conclusion: The addition of 0.1% β-glucan with 0.02% vitamin E in growing and finishing pig diets showed great growth performance and economic effects by supplying vitamin E efficiently and by improving the health condition of pigs due to β-glucan.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1547-1554
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• 2009

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of different sources of chromium on growth performance, blood profile and carcass trait in growing-finishing pigs. A total of 200 growing pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire)${\times}$Duroc, average initial weight 8.5 kg) were allotted to 5 treatments with 4 replicates per treatment and 10 pigs per replicate. Five treatments were designated as follows according to the source of chromium. i) Control (No chromium): corn-soybean meal based basal diet, ii) $CrCl_{3}$: control diet+200 ppb Cr as $CrCl_{3}$, iii) CrPic: control diet+200 ppb Cr as Cr picolinate, iv) CrMet-1: control diet+100 ppb Cr as Cr methionine, and v) CrMet-2: control diet+200 ppb Cr as Cr methionine. After the feeding trial, three pigs per replicate (12 pigs per treatment) were slaughtered for the evaluation of carcass traits. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed: gain ratio (F/G) were not different (p>0.05) among dietary Cr sources. However, whole-period ADG of pigs fed CrPic, CrMet-1 and CrMet-2 diets was higher (p<0.05) than for the control diet. Nutrient digestibility was not different (p>0.05) among dietary Cr sources, but the nutrient digestibility of pigs fed CrPic, CrMet-1 and CrMet-2 diets was higher (p<0.05) than for the control diet. BUN level decreased with more magnitude (p<0.05) in pigs fed Cr during the 20 to 50 kg period. Although both serum cholesterol and triglyceride were different (p<0.05) among treatments, there was no consistent response that could be related to the dietary Cr sources regardless of growth phase. However, the overall data suggested that serum cholesterol level increased as BW of pigs increased. Blood total protein (TP) increased (p<0.05) in pigs fed Cr only during the 90-110 kg phase, and blood creatinine (Creat) level was higher in $CrCl_{3}$ and CrPic treatments than in the control only during the 90-110 kg phase. Backfat thickness was thinner (p<0.05) in pigs fed CrMet-2 than in the control treatment. Therefore, lean percentage was higher (p<0.05) in CrMet-2 than in control pigs. However, dressing percentage and Longissimus muscle area (LMA) were not different (p>0.05) among treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 200 ppb Cr, via either CrPic or CrMet, improved pig growth performance and nutrient digestibility. Moreover, dietary CrMet supplementation for the growing-finishing pig is evidently remarkable for improving both lean percentage of the carcass and backfat thickness.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1326-1331
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• 2003

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of Toyocerin, a probiotic containing Bacillus toyoi spores, on the health status and productivity of pigs, during nursery, growing and finishing phases. On a commercial farrow-to-finish farm in Greece, 3 experimental groups were formed, each of 72 weaned piglets. The pigs of the first group (T1 group; negative controls) received normal feed with no antimicrobials or probiotics, the pigs of the second group (T2 group) received the same type of feed but supplemented with 1.0${\times}$10$^9$, 0.5${\times}$10$^9$ and 0.2${\times}$10$^9$ spores per kg of feed at weaning, growing and finishing stage, respectively, and the pigs of the third group (T3 group) were fed with Toyocerin at the dose of 1.0${\times}$10$^9$ spores per kg of feed during the entire fattening period (weaning, growing and finishing stages). The results have shown that, compared to the controls, Toyocerin treated pigs had reduced incidence of postweaning diarrhoea (p<0.05). Enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli were detected in faecal samples of 0% to 25% of pigs of the treated groups, but in 33.5% to 50% of pigs of the non-treated group (p<0.05). Over the negative controls, a significant improvement of weight gain (4.5% and 8.3% for T2 and T3 groups, respectively), and of feed conversion ratio (6.6% and 13.0% for T2 and T3 groups, respectively) was observed. The 76.5% of the carcasses of the T3 group was classified in the top three categories of the EUROP scale (S, E and U), whilst the respective figures were 47.8% for T2 group and only 10.5% for T1 group (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1229-1235
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• 2007

Three trials were conducted to study the effect of processing method on performance, apparent nutrient and amino acid digestibilities in growing-finishing pigs fed lupine seeds. Ground, expanded or flaked lupine seed was prepared for the trials. In trial 1, a total of 72 growing barrows ($Landrace{\times}Large$ $White{\times}Large$, initial BW of $54.22{\pm}5.87$ kg) were allocated to three treatment diets containing 15% percent of differently processed lupine seed for 28 days. Each treatment had four replicates comprising 6 pigs each. In trial 2, a total of 48 finishing barrows ($Landrace{\times}Large$ $White{\times}Large$, initial BW of $84.40{\pm}6.84$ kg) were subjected to three treatments for 21 days. The experimental design was the same as trial 1 except for supplementation with 20% of lupine seed. Each treatment had four replicates comprising 4 pigs each. To evaluate the ileal digestibility of amino acids, a total of 9 barrows ($Landrace{\times}Large$ $White{\times}Large$), with an average initial BW of $41.07{\pm}1.98$ kg, were fed with ground, expanded or flaked lupine for 7 days. Each pig was surgically equipped with a simple T-cannula fitted in the distal ileum. Amino acid composition and presence of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) in processed lupine sources were also evaluated. The results showed that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in lupine amino acid composition due to the different processing methods. Expanded and flaked lupine significantly decreased (p<0.05) the concentration of ANFs compared with ground lupine. There was no effect (p>0.05) on the growth performance in growing pigs. However, processing method had a significant effect (p<0.05) on average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in finishing pigs. There was no effect (p>0.05) of the different processing methods on the digestibility of dry matter (DM), gross energy (GE), ether extract (EE), Calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), but expanded lupine could significantly increase (p<0.05) the apparent digestibility of CP in finishing pigs. Furthermore, expanded lupine had a higher (p<0.05) apparent ileal digestibility for most indispensable and dispensable amino acids compared with ground and flaked lupine. It was concluded that expanded lupine could be beneficial in improving lupine's quality and improve performance and nutrient utilization in growing-finishing pigs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.326-339
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• 2024

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of protease supplementation and different nutrient density of diets in growing-finishing pigs. A total of one hundred-eight crossbred growing pigs ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) with an initial body weight (BW; 18.74 ± 3.46 kg) were used for 15 weeks. Pigs were randomly assigned to six dietary treatments with 6 replicates of 3 pigs per pen in a 3 × 2 factorial through the following arrangement: Three groups of protease (1, Basal diets; 2, Protease A: 125 mg/kg protease derived from Streptomyces sps; 3, Protease B: 100 mg/kg protease derived from Bacillus licheniformis) at two different nutrient density diets (1, Basal requirement; 2, 0.94%-0.98% higher than requirement in dietary protein and 50 kcal/kg in energy). High nutrient (HN) diets showed higher average daily gain (ADG) (p < 0.05) and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of crude protein (CP) (p < .0001) compared to basal nutrient (BN) diets during growing periods. Supplementation of protease showed higher BW (p < 0.05) and ADG (p < 0.05) compared to non-supplementation of protease during growing periods. Also, supplementation of protease showed higher ATTD of CP (p < 0.01), ATTD of gross energy (p < 0.05) and decreased blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level (p = 0.001) compared to non-supplementation of protease during finishing periods. Pigs which fed the protease showed decreased ammonia (NH₃) emissions (p < 0.05) during experiment periods and decreased hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) emissions (p < 0.01) during finishing periods. Interactions between nutrient density and protease were observed, which decreased the feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05) in HN diets without protease compared to BN diets without protease during weeks 4 to 6. Also, interaction between nutrient density and protease was observed, which resulted in improved ATTD of CP (p < 0.01) in response to PTA supplementation with HN diets during the finishing period. In conclusion, supplementation of protease reduces NH₃ in feces and BUN in whole blood by increasing the digestibility of CP and improves growth performance. Also, diets with high nutrient density improved growth performance and nutrient digestibility in growing periods.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.165-168
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• 2001

This study was conducted to determine the volume and characteristics of growing and finishing pig manure. The results obtained in this study was summarized as follows; The average manure production per 60kg of betray weight fur pig was 4.57kg/head/day(faces 1.83, urine 2.74kg). The average moisture content of feces and urine was 74.1%, 98.4%, respectively. Water pollutant concentration, $BOD_5$, COD, SS, T-N and T-p, excreted from pig was 74,224mg/l, 63,046mg/l, 261,089mg/l in feces and 6,054mg/l, 5,295mg/l, 435mg/l in urine, respectively. The composition of manure produced by pig, N, $P_2O_5$ and $K_2O$. was 0.89, 0.46, 0.25% in feces and 0.83, 0.05, 0.23% in urine, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1150-1159
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• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate various wheat supplementation levels on growth performance, blood profiles, nutrient digestibility, and pork quality in growing-finishing pigs. Methods: A total of 120 growing pigs ($[Yorkshire{\times}Landrace]{\times}Duroc$), with an average $27.75{\pm}1.319kg$ body weight, were used in growth trial. Pigs were allotted into each treatment by body weight and sex in 4 replicates with 6 pigs per pen in a randomized complete block design. Fourphase feeding programs were used in this experiment. The treatments included the following: i) corn-soybean meal (SBM) - based diet (CON), ii) corn-SBM - based diet+15% of wheat (W15), iii) corn-SBM - based diet+30% of wheat (W30), iv) corn-SBM - based diet+45% of wheat (W45), and 5) corn-SBM-based diet+60% of wheat (W60). Results: There was no significant difference in growth performance among the dietary treatments. However, the gain-to-feed (G:F) ratio tended to increase (quadratic, p<0.08) when the pigs were fed a higher wheat diet during the finishing period. The digestibility of crude ash and fat tended to decrease as the wheat supplementation level increased (p<0.08). The proximate analysis of the longissimus muscle was not affected by the dietary level of wheat. The crude ash content in pork was decreased linearly as the wheat supplementation level increased (p = 0.05). There was no significant difference in the pH level, shear force, water holding capacity, and cooking loss of the pork. In pork and fat, $L^{\star}$, $a^{\star}$, and $b^{\star}$ values were not significantly different among dietary treatments. Conclusion: Wheat can be supplemented up to 60% in a growing-finishing pig without detrimental effects on growth and pork quality. The G:F ratio tended to improve in the finishing period by wheat inclusion.