Monthly Archives: January 2011

A study with three experiments were conducted to determine the AA digestibility and energy concentration of deoiled (solvent extracted) corn dried distillers grains with solubles (dDGS) and evaluate its effect on nursery pig growth performance and finishing pig growth performance and carcass traits. In Exp. 1, 5 growing barrows (initially, 30.8 kg BW) were fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and allotted to 1 of 2 treatments: (1) diet with dDGS as the sole protein source or (2) an N-free diet for determining basal endogenous AA losses in a crossover design at 68.0 kg BW. Apparent (AID) and standardized (SID) ileal digestibility of AA and energy concentration of dDGS were determined. In Exp. 2, a total of 210 pigs (initial BW, 9.9 kg) were used in a 28-d experiment to evaluate the effect of dDGS on nursery pig performance. Pigs were allotted to 5 dietary treatments (0, 5, 10, 20, or 30% dDGS) formulated to contain equal ME (increased added fat with increasing dDGS) and SID Lys concentrations based on the values obtained from Exp. 1. In Exp. 3, a total of 1,215 pigs (initially, 29.6 kg BW) were used in a 99-d experiment to determine the effect of dDGS on growth and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. Pigs were allotted to dietary treatments similar to those used in Exp. 2 and were fed in 4 phases. The analyzed chemical composition of dDGS in Exp. 1 was 35.6% CP, 5.29% ash, 4.6% fat, 18.4% ADF, and 39.5% NDF on a DM basis. Apparent ileal digestibilities of Lys, Met, and Thr in dDGS were 47.2, 79.4, and 64.1%, respectively, and SID were 50.4, 80.4, and 68.9%, respectively. The determined GE and DE and calculated ME and NE values of dDGS were 5,098, 3,100, 2,858, and 2,045 kcal/kg DM, respectively. In Exp. 2, nursery pig ADG, ADFI, and G:F were similar among treatments. In Exp. 3, increasing dDGS reduced (linear; P < 0.01) ADG and ADFI but tended to improve (linear; P = 0.07) G:F. Carcass weight and yield were reduced (linear; P < 0.01), loin depth tended to decrease (linear; P = 0.09), and carcass fat iodine values increased (linear; P < 0.01) as dDGS increased. There was no difference in backfat, percentage lean, or fat-free lean index among treatments. In conclusion, dDGS had greater CP and AA but lower energy content than traditional DDGS. Also, when dietary fat was added to diets to offset the lower ME content, feeding up to 30% dDGS did not affect growth performance of nursery pigs but negatively affected ADG, ADFI, and carcass fat quality of finishing pigs.

The objective of this study was to determine the association between space allowance and in-transit loss of finishing pigs going to select abattoirs in Ontario during summer weather conditions. The study included data from 2- or 3-tiered trailers transporting ≥ 130 pigs in June, July, and August 2003 to 3 packers that processed 76% of Ontario market pigs. Daily in-transit loss data were merged with packer data to determine the number of pigs on each trailer. Space allowance (in square meters per pig) was estimated from the percentage of each trailer’s capacity that was filled by the load size. Actual pig weights were not available. Hourly temperature and relative humidity were obtained from 2 local Ontario weather stations. In-transit loss increased with environmental temperature, by 6.6 times at temperatures between 28°C and 34.2°C compared with < 17°C. At space allowances between 0.44 and 0.43 m(2)/pig compared with ≥ 0.515 m(2)/pig, in-transit losses increased 2.12 times when environmental temperatures were < 21°C. Temperature is likely a more important determinant of in-transit loss than space allowance. However, in-transit losses in hot weather are likely to be reduced by increasing space allowance or by adding a cooling device.