• 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.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.662-670
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• 2015

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of feeding barley naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on growth performance, vulva swelling, and digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein of gilts and the recovery of gilts fed normal diets immediately after the exposure to contaminated diets by measuring growth performance and vulva swelling. In Exp. 1, four diets were prepared to contain 0%, 15%, 30%, or 45% contaminated barley containing 25.7 mg/kg deoxynivalenol and $26.0{\mu}g/kg$ zearalenone. Sixteen gilts with an initial body weight (BW) of 33.3 kg (standard deviation = 3.0) were individually housed in a metabolism crate and assigned to 4 diets with 4 replicates in a randomized complete block design based on BW. During the 14-d feeding trial, individual BW and feed consumption were measured weekly and the vertical and horizontal lengths of vulva were measured every 3 d. From d 10, feces were collected by the maker-to-marker method for 4 d. Blood samples were collected on d 14. During the overall period, the average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain:feed of pigs linearly decreased (p<0.01) as the dietary concentration of contaminated barley increased. However, the digestibility of crude protein was linearly increased (p = 0.011) with the increasing amounts of contaminated barley. Increasing dietary Fusarium mycotoxin concentrations did not influence vulva size, blood characteristic as well as immunoglobulin level of pigs. In the Exp. 2, a corn-soybean meal-based diet was formulated as a recovery diet. Pigs were fed the recovery diet immediately after completion of the Exp. 1. During the 14-d of recovery period, the individual BW and feed consumption were measured weekly and the vertical and horizontal length of vulva were measured every 3 d from d 0. On d 7, the feed intake of pigs previously fed contaminated diets already reached that of pigs fed a diet with 0% contaminated barley and no significant difference in growth performance among treatments was observed during d 7 to 14 of the recovery period. In conclusion, increasing levels of mycotoxins in diets linearly decreased the growth performance of pigs, and these damages can be recovered in 7 d after the diet was replaced with a normal diet. The vulva size, blood characteristic, immune responses were not affected by increasing level of contaminated barley in the diets fed to pigs.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2006

Studies were carried out to determine the effect of feeding diet containing 5% canola oil on growth, feed efficiency, and fatty acid profile of bacon in finishing pigs and of longissimus muscle in horses fattening for meat production. In experiment 1, twenty cross-bred barrows and twenty cross-bred gilts (average weight, 80 kg) were blocked by sex and weight, and five barrows or five gilts were allotted to one of eight pens $(6.25m^2/pen)$, respectively. Four pens (two with barrows and two with gilts) randomly selected were assigned to a control diet containing 5% tallow and the remaining four pens to a diet containing 5% canola oil. The average daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed efficiency over a 6-wk feeding period were not different (p>0.05) between the two diets, nor was backfat thickness. Fatty acid profile in bacon fat showed that the 0-3 fatty acid ($\alpha-linolenic$ acid) content in pigs fed diet containing 5% canola oil was approximately three times (P<0.01) as much as in pigs fed tallow. In experiment 2, thirty-two Jeju horses (average $weight{\pm}SE,\;244{\pm}5kg$) were blocked by sex and weight, and two horses of the same sex and similar body weight were allotted to one $(15m^2/pen)$ of eight pens. Eight pens (four with males and four with females) selected randomly were assigned to a control diet containing 5% tallow and the remaining eight pens to a diet containing 5% canola oil. The average daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed efficiency for concentrates without roughages over a 5-month feeding period were not different (P>0.05) between the two diet groups. Fatty acid profile in the muscle fat showed that the 0-3 fatty acid (a-linolenic acid) content in horses fed diet containing 5% canola oil was approximately two times (P<0.01) that in horses fed tallow. The increased (P<0.01) 0-3 fatty acid content in pigs and horses fed canola oil decreased the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids compared to the control, indicating a significant improvement in pork and horsemeat fatty acid profile for health benefit. Our study demonstrated that feeding diet containing 5% canola oil may help produce pork and horsemeat with more health benefit, increasing their $\alpha-linolenic$ acid content without deleterious effects on growth of pigs and horses.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1742-1747
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• 2012

A total of 96 growing pigs ((Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire)${\times}$Duroc; BW = $26.58{\pm}1.41$ kg) were used in a 6-wk feeding trail to evaluate the effects of fermented chlorella (FC) supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics, fecal microbial and fecal noxious gas content in growing pigs. Pigs were randomly allotted into 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 6 replicate pens (2 barrows and 2 gilts) per treatment. Dietary treatments were: i) negative control (NC), basal diet (without antibiotics); ii) positive control (PC), NC+0.05% tylosin; iii) (fermented chlorella 01) FC01, NC+0.1% FC, and iv) fermented chlorella 02 (FC02), NC+0.2% FC. In this study, feeding pigs PC or FC01 diets led to a higher average daily gain (ADG) and dry matter (DM) digestibility than those fed NC diet (p<0.05), whereas the inclusion of FC02 diet did not affect the ADG and DM compared with the NC group. No difference (p>0.05) was observed on the body weight, average daily feed intake (ADFI), gain:feed (G:F) ratio, the apparent total tract digestibility of N and energy throughout the experiment. The inclusion of PC or FC did not affect the blood characteristics (p>0.05). Moreover, dietary FC treatment led to a higher (p<0.05) lactobacillus concentration and lower E. coli concentration than the NC treatment, whereas the antibiotic supplementation only decreased the E. coli concentration. Pigs fed FC or PC diet had reduced (p<0.05) fecal $NH_3$ and $H_2S$ content compared with those fed NC diet. In conclusion, our results indicated that the inclusion of FC01 treatment could improve the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbial shedding (lower E. coli and higher lactobacillus), and decrease the fecal noxious gas emission in growing pigs when compared with the group fed the basal diet. In conclusion, dietary FC could be considered as a good source of supplementation in growing pigs because of its growth promoting effect.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2024

This study was done to investigate the effects of the incorporation of Achyranthes japonica extracts (AJE) in diet on the production parameters of growing pigs. Exp 1: Total, 105 crossbred pigs (average body weight: 24.47 ± 2.46 kg) were used in a 6-week feeding trial. Pigs (seven replicates, five pigs per pen) were allotted randomly to three treatments. Dietary treatments: CON (basal diet); basal diet with 0.025% AJE, and basal diet + 0.050% AJE). Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbial count, and fecal noxious gas were assessed in this study. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) were not affected by the addition of up to 0.05% AJE. In the case of apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), and digestible energy (DE) were not changed in 3rd and 6th weeks of the feeding trial through the addition of AJE up to 0.05% in the growing pig diet. In microbial count, Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli count at 3rd and 6th week was similar in all the treatment diets. The inclusion of AJE at levels up to 0.05% in growing pig diet had no effect on the production of NH3, H2S, acetic acid, and CO₂ in the feces. After ending the Exp 1, a total of nine pigs were divided into three treatment groups. Treatment diets were included, TRT1, basal diet + powder quercetin 30 g; TRT2, basal diet + powder quercetin 150 g; TRT3, basal diet + powder quercetin 300g. Rate of absorption in blood was increased with the higher dose of quercetin. The results suggested incorporation of AJE up to 0.05% has no significant effect on ADG, ADFI, and G:F, as well as DM, N, and DE digestibility, fecal microbial count, and fecal noxious gas emission in growing pigs, even though no negative effect was found.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.1440-1444
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• 2000

Two feeding trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of inclusion levels of dietary vitamin and trace mineral (VTM) premixes on growth and nutrient digestibility in growing pigs. A total of 112 pigs ($24.82{\pm}3.22kg$) were employed for 49 days (exp. 1), and 168 pigs ($21.64{\pm}1.41kg$) for 40 days (exp. 2) in completely randomized block designs. Treatments were: 1) 100%, 2) 150%, 3) 200% and 4) 250% NRC (1998) requirement of VTM in exp. 1, and the ratio of vitamins to trace minerals at 1) 100:100%, 2) 100:150%, 3) 150:100% and 4) 150:150% of NRC (1998) requirement in exp. 2. Basal diets for feeding trials were formulated to contain 3,310 kcal ME/kg and 18% crude protein, and contained 0.25% chromic oxide as an indigestible marker for digestibility trials. Increasing dietary VTM premix in growing pigs had linear and quadratic effects (p<0.05) on ADG, and feed conversion ratio was also improved (p<0.05) as VTM premix was increased by 150-250% of NRC (1998) requirements in exp. 1. Adding vitamin to trace mineral premixes at 150% NRC (1998) over the control improved (p<0.05) ADG and feed efficiency in growing pigs, but performances were not improved by vitamin nor by trace mineral premixes alone (p>0.15) (exp. 2). There were no differences (p>0.05) in the digestibilities of energy, crude protein and fat among dietary treatments. However, increasing dietary VTM premix in growing pigs had a linear effect (p<0.05) on the digestibilities of calcium and phosphorus. The 200 or 250% fed group showed improved (p<0.05) calcium digestibility, and 250% fed group also showed improved (p<0.05) phosphorus digestibility as compared to 100% or 150% fed group (exp. 1). The digestibilities of Ca and P were higher (p<0.05) in 150% addition of vitamins than in 150% addition of trace minerals in the diet (exp. 2).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.411-416
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• 1999

Ninety-six, 35 day old, crossbred pigs, were fed either a basal diet based on com, soybean meal, fish meal and whey or one of three similar diets supplemented with either 0.5% organic acid or enzyme both alone and in combination. Neither organic acid nor enzyme produced any significant (p<0.05) improvements in daily gain or feed conversion. Organic acid, both alone and in combination with enzyme, significantly (p=0.04) decreased the pH in the lower colon. None of the treatments produced any effects on E. Coli or Lactobacillus numbers in any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Feeding enzyme increased trypsin (p=0.01), chymotrypsin (p=0.03) and amylase (p=0.08) levels in the jejunum. Chymotrypsin levels were higher (p=0.04) in the ileum of pigs fed enzyme. Serum glucose levels were lower (p=0.01) on day 14 in pigs fed enzyme either alone or in combination with acid. Under the conditions of this experiment (10% dietary whey, pigs weaned at 35 days of age), neither organic acid nor enzyme were effective in improving starter pig performance. Therefore, there would appear to be little justification for the routine inclusion of these products in diets fed to pigs weaned at 35 days or later.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.270-276
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• 2008

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of exogenous non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) enzymes on performance, intestinal content viscosity and digestive enzyme activities of growing pigs fed a rough rice-based diet. A total of 60 crossbred barrows with an initial body weight of 35.16 kg (SD = 0.82) were blocked by body weight and randomly assigned to two treatments with three replications. Each group was fed the diet based on rice with or without exogenous NSP enzymes (2 g/kg of diet). During the 70 days of the feeding trial, all pigs were given free access to feed and water. At the end of the feeding trial, six pigs from each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered to collect intestinal digesta, intestinal mucosa, and pancreas. The addition of NSP enzymes improved average daily gain (p<0.05) and feed:gain (p<0.05), and decreased viscosity of digesta in the jejunum (p<0.001) and ileum (p<0.01) of pigs. The supplementation of NSP enzymes increased activities of protease (p<0.01), trypsin (p<0.01) and ${\alpha}$-amylase (p<0.05) in duodenal contents. However, digestive enzymes in the pancreas, jejunal and ileal mucosa were unaffected by the supplemental NSP enzymes (p>0.10). The results indicate that the addition of NSP enzymes to rough rice-based diets improved performance of pigs, reduced viscosity and increased digestive activity in the small intestine.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.1738-1742
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• 2000

A study was conducted to determine the ileal digestibility (ID) of amino acids and feeding values of spray dried plasma protein (SDPP) and spray dried porcine intestine hydrolysate (SDPI) in early-weaned pigs. Twelve pigs aged 18 days old (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire${\times}$Duroc; $5.83{\pm}0.51kg$ BW) were cannulated in the terminal ileum for determination of ID of amino acids. Ninety pigs ($6.28{\pm}0.1kg$, 18 days old) were also employed for a feeding trial during phase I period. Treatments were: 1) 6% SDPP, 2) 6% SDPI, and 3) 3% SDPP+3% SDPI. The apparent and true ID values of the essential amino acids except leucine, methionine and valine were lower (p<0.01) in SDPI than in SDPP. The average apparent ID of essential amino acids in SDPP and SDPI were 75.63 and 71.30%, and the average true ID of essential amino acids 84.83 and 80.51%, respectively. The ADG and feed conversion ratio in piglets fed the 6% SDPP diet were better (p<0.01) than in those fed the 6% SDPI diet. When 3% of SDPP was replaced by SDPI, however, the growth rate and efficiency of pigs were comparable to those in pigs fed 6% SDPP. In conclusion, SDPP can be partially replaced by SDPI without any detrimental effect on growth performance in early-weaned pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.432-444
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• 2001

In this manuscript, several effective feeding and management systems to reduce environmental pollution in swine production have been briefly introduced. It is logical that reducing the excretion of nutrients in manure should be the first step to reduce the environmental impact of pig production. it is evident that the excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus can be reduced when more digestible or available feedstuffs are used. Also, it is well known that proper feed processing can reduce anti nutritional factors (ANF) and improve nutrient digestibilities. Supplementation of effective feed additives can reduce excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus due to efficient feed utilization. These include enzymes (e.g., phytase), antibiotics, probiotics, organic acids and growth hormones ($\beta$-agonists and porcine somatotropin). One of the most effective ways to reduce pollutants from swine manure is to use synthetic amino acids in feed manufacturing. Many studies showed that reduction of 2 to 4% unit (U) of dietary protein with supplemental amino acid (AA) could dramatically reduce (15 to 20%) nitrogen excretion. Regarding feeding strategies, it has been recognized that phase feeding regimen could be used to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous excretion by feeding pigs in better agreement with age and physiological state. Feeding barrows and gilts separately, known as split sex feeding, can also decrease excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus. With the increasing concerns on the negative impact of animal production systems on the environment, animal nutritionists and producers should be aware that sustainability of animal agriculture is as important as high production performance. Therefore, some feeding and management strategies described in this manuscript will help to reduce environmental pollution in swine production. Proper combination of feeding regimen and environment-friendly diet formulation through nutritional approach will be more effective to reduce nutrient excretion in swine production system compared to single approach to do so.