Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T12:22:09.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The voluntary feed intake of pigs given feeds based on wheat bran, dried citrus pulp and grass meal, in relation to measurements of feed bulk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

I. Kyriazakis
Affiliation:
Genetics and Behavioural Sciences Department, Scottish Agricultural College Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
G. C. Emmans
Affiliation:
Genetics and Behavioural Sciences Department, Scottish Agricultural College Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the capacities of pigs for bulky feeds. In Expt 1 fifteen pigs were offered, from 12 to 25 kg live weight, ad lib. access to one of five feeds which were made by progressively diluting a high-quality feed with wheat bran. Intake initially increased, and then declined, as the proportion of wheat bran was increased. The pigs became better able to accommodate to the more bulky feeds over time. In Expt 2 thirty-six pigs, initially of 12 kg live weight, were used. The feeds were the same high-quality basal feed as in Expt 1 and three others made almost entirely of either wheat bran, dried grass or dried citrus pulp, respectively. The equal-parts mixtures of each of these three bulky feeds with the basal feed were also made to give three series of feeds each comprising the basal, the mixture and the bulky feed. The three feeds in each series were given ad lib. to twelve pigs in a design of two replicated Latin squares with three time-periods. Within each series, and across periods, the intakes of the feeds that were limiting intake were directly proportional to live weight and so a scaled intake, expressed as g/kg live weight per d, was calculated. Across the six limiting feeds, scaled intakes in the final 5 d of each period, when the pigs were in equilibrium with their feeds, were directly proportional to the reciprocal of the water-holding capacities (WHC) of the feeds, as measured by a centrifugation method. There were large effects of feed changes on intake, in the short term, with previous experience of a bulky feed leading to higher intakes of another bulky feed. The intake of the basal feed was not affected by the feed given previously. It was concluded that: (a) the time of adaptation to bulky feeds needs to be considered when attempting to measure, or predict, the rates of intake on different bulky feeds and, (b) the WHC of the feeds could be an appropriate measurement of‘bulk’responsible for limiting their intake, and could be used to predict the maximum feed intake capacity of pigs on different bulky feeds.

Type
Factors affecting dietary intake
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1995

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council (1981) The Nutrient Requirements of Pigs. Slough: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Bertin, C, Rouau, X. & Thibault, J. F. (1988) Structure and properties of sugar beet fibres. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 44, 1529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brouns, F., Edwards, S. A. & English, P. R. (1991) Fibrous raw materials in sow diets. Animal Production, 52,598.Google Scholar
Conrad, H. R., Pratt, A. D. & Hibbs, J. W. (1964) Regulation of feed intake in dairy cows. I. Change in importance of physical and physiological factors with increasing digestibility. Journal of Dairy Science 47, 5462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastwood, M. A. (1973) Vegetable fibre: its physical properties. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 32,137143.Google Scholar
Eastwood, M. A., Robertson, J. A., Brydon, W. G. & MacDonald, D. (1983) Measurement of water-holding properties of fibre and their faecal bulking ability in man. British Journal of Nutrition 50, 539547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emmans, G. C. (1994) Effective energy: a concept of energy utilization applied across species. British Journal of Nutrition 71, 801821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emmans, G. C. & Fisher, C. (1986) Problems in nutritional theory. In Nutrient Requirements of Poultry and Nutrition Research. Poultry Symposium no. 19, pp. 930 [Fisher, C. and Boorman, K. N., editors]. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Lehmann, F. (1941) Die Lehre von Ballast (The lesson of ballast). Zeitschrift für Tierernáhrung und Futtermittelkunde 5, 155173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, A. G. (1985) Role of dietary fibre in pig diets. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition – 1985, pp. 87112 [Haresign, W. and Cole, D. J. A., editors]. London: Butterworths.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mraz, F. R., Boucher, R. V. & McCartney, M. G. (1957) The influence of the energy: volume ratio on growth responses in chickens. Poultry Science 36, 12171221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, J. B. & Ridgman, W. J. (1967) The effect of dietary energy content on the voluntary intake of pigs. Animal Production 9, 107114.Google Scholar
Owen, J. B. & Ridgman, W. J. (1968) Further studies of the effect of dietary energy content on the voluntary intake of pigs. Animal Production 10, 8591.Google Scholar
Peterson, A. D. & Baumgardt, B. R. (1971) Food and energy intake of rats fed diets varying in energy concentration and density. Journal of Nutrition 101, 10571068.Google Scholar
Robertson, J. A. & Eastwood, M. A. (1981) A method to measure the water-holding properties of dietary fibre using suction pressure. British Journal of Nutrition 46,247255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, D. L. (1987) Estimation and use of variance components. The Statistician 36, 314.Google Scholar
Roan, S.-W. (1991) Bio-economic models for the simulation of the production and management of the growing pigs and sows. PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Savory, C. J. (1992) Gastrointestinal morphology and absorption of monosacharides in fowls conditioned to different types and levels of dietary fibre. British Journal of Nutrition 67, 7789.Google Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. (1963) Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. II. A rapid method for the determination of fiber and lignin. Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 46, 825828.Google Scholar
Whittemore, C. T. (1983) Development of recommended energy and protein allowances for growing pigs. Agricultural Systems 11, 159186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmans, G. C. (1994) Effective energy: a concept of energy utilization applied across species. British Journal of Nutrition 71, 801821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed