Copra meal is a coproduct of the production of coconut oil. Although the amino acid profile and digestibility in copra meal are less favorable than in soybean meal, it can provide significant protein and energy in swine diets and may be used to reduce feed costs.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that copra meal may replace some corn and soybean meal in phase 2 diets fed to weanling pigs without negatively affecting growth performance.

A total of 192 pigs were weaned at approximately 20 days of age. All pigs were fed a common phase 1 diet for 14 days post-weaning and then were randomly allotted to four treatment groups with six pigs per pen and eight replicate pens per treatment. Pigs had an average body weight of 9.22 kg at the start of the experiment. Four phase 2 diets were formulated. The basal diet was based on corn and soybean meal, 4% fish meal, and no copra meal. Three additional diets were formulated by including 0, 5, 10, or 15% copra meal in the diets at the expense of corn and soybean meal. Diets were formulated to contain equal amounts of metabolizable energy, digestible amino acids, and digestible phosphorus.

Individual pig body weight was recorded at the start of the experiment, after 10 days, and at the conclusion of the trial after 21 days. Daily feed allotments and unconsumed feed were also recorded. From these data, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and average gain to feed ratio were calculated for each treatment group.

Initial body weight and body weight at day 10 did not differ among diets (Table 1). However, a linear decrease (P = 0.05) in body weight at day 20 was observed as the inclusion rate of copra meal increased. From days 0-10, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain:feed ratio did not differ among the diets. However, from days 10-20, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain:feed ratio all showed a linear decrease (P = 0.05) as the inclusion rate of copra meal increased. From days 0-20, significant linear decreases (P = 0.05) in average daily gain and average daily feed intake were observed as the inclusion rate of copra meal was increased, along with a tendency for a linear decrease in gain:feed ratio (P = 0.057).

• Final body weight and average daily gain decrease  if copra meal is added to diets fed to weanling pigs from day 15 to 36 post-weaning.
• The gain:feed ratio in pigs fed increasing amounts of copra meal tends to decrease as copra meal is included in diets fed to weanling pigs.
• Average daily feed intake decreases with the inclusion of copra meal in the diet. This indicates that copra meal may make the diets less palatable to pigs.
• It is possible that the high concentration of fiber in copra meal is the reason for the reduced growth performance and the reduced feed intake of the pigs.

Table 1. Growth performance of nursery pigs fed diets containing 0, 5%, 10%, or 15% copra meal

This report is based on unpublished research by N. W. Jaworski, J. C. Gonzalez-Vega, and H. H. Stein.