• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제18권10호
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• pp.1469-1474
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• 2005

The objective of this study was to determine the levels of nutritionally related blood metabolites, age and body weight at puberty in gilts fed on corn cob-based diet in Mukota and Landrace${\times}$Mukota crossbred gilts. Ten gilts of each of Mukota and crossbred genotypes were fed two diets for 14 weeks in a 2${\times}$2 (breed${\times}$diet) factorial treatment arrangement. A corn-cob based diet, designed to contain 2,304 kcal ME/kg, and a standard pig grower diet, were used. The corn cob constituted 20 percent of the total ration. Fortnightly, bodyweights and feed conversion ratios (FCR) were recorded. Blood samples were collected to determine blood glucose, urea and creatinine levels. The average daily bodyweight gain (ADG) in the Mukota was lower (p<0.05) than in the crossbred gilts. Crossbred gilts fed on the corn cob-based diet had lower (p<0.05) urea values from eight weeks from the start of the experiment (p<0.05) compared to Mukota gilts fed the same diet. There were no differences in blood glucose and creatinine concentrations between diets and genotypes. The lack of differences in the nutritionally-related blood metabolites suggest that corn cobs could be incorporated at 20 percent inclusion without compromising blood metabolite concentrations and age at puberty of the Mukota and Landrace${\times}$Mukota gilts.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제14권12호
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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.