Research Reports

Effect of Sal CURB® on digestibility of energy, amino acids, calcium, and phosphorus in growing pigs

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) can be spread via contaminated feed. Treating PEDV-contaminated feed with formaldehyde has been shown to prevent infection in pigs that consume the feed. However, concerns have been raised about the effect of treatment with formaldehyde on the nutritional value of feedstuffs. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the effects of adding a formaldehyde-based feed disinfectant to the diet on the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of dry matter, crude protein, and amino acids, and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, gross energy (GE), calcium, and phosphorus in nursery pigs.

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Effects of xylanase on the concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy in rice co-products fed to weaning pigs

Several co-products from rice processing can be used as animal feed. Brown rice is the whole rice grain that is left after the hull layer has been removed, leaving the germ, starchy endosperm, and bran. Rice bran is the outer brown layer of brown rice, which is removed to produce white rice. It is high in fiber, and also contains about 15% crude protein and 14 to 20% fat. Rice bran can be fed as full fat rice bran or defatted rice bran. Broken rice, or brewer's rice, consists of white rice grains that have been damaged in processing. It is high in starch and contains little fat, fiber, or protein (Table 1).

Non–starch polysaccharides (NSPs), primarily arabinoxylan and cellulose, comprise 20 to 25% of defatted rice bran. NSPs reduce nutrient absorption and energy digestibility. Addition of exogenous xylanase to wheat co-products, which also have high concentration of NSPs, may improve digestibility of energy, but there is limited information about the effects of adding exogenous xylanases to rice co-products. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the effect on concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) of adding exogenous xylanase to diets containing full fat rice bran (FFRB), defatted rice bran (DFRB), brown rice, or broken rice.

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Effects of fiber on the optimal threonine:lysine ratio for 25 to 50 kg growing gilts

Use of high-fiber, low-cost ingredients, such as co-products from grain processing industries, in swine diets is increasing. Pigs fed diets containing high levels of fiber have increased intestinal mass due to increased amount of microbial fermentation in the hindgut. Therefore, they also have increased endogenous loss of amino acids in the form of mucins, the proteins that line the intestinal tract. The abrasiveness of fiber stimulates the secretion of mucins as well. These factors may cause the threonine requirement to be increased in high fiber diets, because threonine is present in large amounts in mucins. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dietary fiber on the optimum threonine:lysine ratio (Thr:Lys) in 25 to 50 kg growing gilts.

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Effect of particle size in calcium carbonate on apparent and standardized total tract digestibility and retention of calcium by growing pigs

Particle size is an important consideration for some feed ingredients in pig diets. Reducing the particle size of cereal grains and soybean meal in diets fed to pigs improves digestibility of energy, amino acids, and other nutrients, because feed ground to smaller particle sizes has more surface area on which digestive enzymes can work.

The particle size of inorganic calcium sources has been shown to affect calcium retention in poultry. Particle sizes of 1.00 mm or greater are recommended to optimize calcium retention and eggshell quality in laying hens, but coarse particle sizes result in reduced calcium retention in broiler chicks.  However, little is known about the effect of particle size of calcium sources fed to pigs. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test different particle sizes of calcium carbonate and determine which size optimizes calcium digestibility and retention by growing pigs.

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Effects of pelleting and extrusion on energy and nutrient digestibility in diets fed to pigs

Pelleting and extrusion are technologies that have been used in livestock feeding to improve nutrient digestibility and feed conversion. Recent research concluded that reduced performance of pigs fed diets containing high concentrations of fiber was ameliorated if the diets were pelleted. Extrusion is also of benefit in high fiber diets, because it may increase the solubility of dietary fiber. It is possible that the benefits of extrusion and pelleting are greater in high fiber diets than in low fiber diets, but this hypothesis has not been investigated. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine effects of extrusion and pelleting on energy and nutrient digestibility in diets containing low, medium, or high concentrations of fiber.

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Phosphorus digestibility in rice co-products fed to growing pigs

After corn and wheat, rice is the third most widely grown cereal grain worldwide. Most rice is processed to produce polished white rice for human consumption, and several co-products result from this processing. First, the outer husk, or hull, of the grain is removed. The dehulled grain, consisting of the bran, germ, and endosperm, is brown rice. To produce white rice, the brown rice is milled further and the bran is removed. Rice bran is high in fiber, and also contains about 15% crude protein and 14 to 20% fat. Rice bran can be fed as full fat rice bran or defatted rice bran. Rice bran is sometimes combined with rice hulls to produce rice mill feed. During milling of the rice, some kernels may get broken and cannot be used for human consumption. These broken kernels are known as broken rice or brewers rice and may also be used in animal feeding.

The phosphorus content of rice is similar to that of corn. Most of the phosphorus in rice is in the bran fraction, and 80-85% of the phosphorus in rice bran is bound to phytate, which limits its digestibility by pigs. Microbial phytase can be used in swine diets to increase the digestibility of phytate-bound phosphorus. However, limited information exists about phosphorus digestibility in rice co-products and how it is affected by microbial phytase. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the apparent (ATTD) and standardized (STTD) total tract digestibility of phosphorus in brown rice, broken rice, full fat rice bran (FFRB), defatted rice bran (DFRB), and rice mill feed fed to growing pigs. A second objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of microbial phytase on phosphorus digestibility in rice co-products.

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Effects of extrusion of corn and oats on the digestibility of energy, crude protein, and fiber in diets fed to pigs

In extrusion, cereal grains are processed under conditions of heat and pressure. Like other types of heat treatment, extrusion may reduce the concentration of antinutritional factors. Extrusion also gelatinizes starch, improving its digestibility. Improved digestibility of starch should, in turn, lead to an increase in digestible energy. Extrusion has also been shown in some studies to solubilize the insoluble fraction of the fiber which would also increase fiber digestibility and digestible energy.

Corn is a high starch ingredient, while oats are high in fiber. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of extruding corn and oats on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and fiber when fed to growing pigs.

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Energy digestibility in 23 sources of distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a co-product of the ethanol industry and is often used as an economical source of energy and protein in swine diets. Conventional DDGS contains approximately 27% crude protein, 10% fat, 9% acid detergent fiber (ADF), and 25% (NDF). The concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in conventional sources of DDGS are approximately 3,500 and 3,350 kcal/kg, respectively. However, there is significant variation in the way different plants produce DDGS. For example, in recent years ethanol plants have begun extracting oil from DDGS to sell to the biodiesel industry. This results in DDGS with its fat content reduced to approximately 6 to 9%, which may result in lower concentrations of DE and ME.

If pigs are fed diets containing decreased levels of DE and ME relative to conventional DDGS, a reduction in growth performance may result. This would make DDGS a less economical feedstuff. An experiment was conducted to determine the variability of DE and ME in DDGS produced in and around Illinois.

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Amino acid digestibility in rice co-products fed to growing pigs

Global production of rice is third in terms of total tonnage after corn and wheat. Rice is grown to produce polished white rice for human consumption. However, harvested rice, called paddy rice or rough rice, needs to be dehulled, which results in production of brown rice. The outer brown bran layer of brown rice, known as rice bran, also needs to be removed before polished white rice is produced. Approximately 20% of the paddy rice is hulls and the bran fraction is 8 to 10%, so only 70% of the paddy rice will become polished rice. Rice bran is high in fiber, and also contains about 15% crude protein and 14 to 20% fat. Rice bran can be fed as full fat rice bran or defatted rice bran. During milling of the rice, some kernels may get broken and cannot be used for human consumption. These broken kernels are known as broken rice or brewers rice and may also be used in animal feeding. Broken rice is high in starch and contains little fat, fiber, or protein.

Both rice bran and broken rice may be fed to pigs, but these ingredients are poorly characterized in terms of nutritional value. An experiment was, therefore, conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and amino acids in broken rice, two sources of full fat rice bran (FFRB), and defatted rice bran (DFRB) fed to growing pigs.

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Digestible, metabolizable, and net energy in diets containing 0, 15, or 30% wheat bran fed to growing pigs

When evaluating the energy content of pig diets, producers and feed companies in the United States usually use the digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) systems. However, these systems do not take into account the heat produced by the animals during digestion, and thus the energy lost by pigs in the process of digesting and metabolizing the feed. Pigs fed diets high in fiber have greater feed intake, larger gastrointestinal tracts, and increased hindgut fermentation relative to pigs fed diets containing less fiber. Therefore, they might be expected to have greater heat production as well. As a result, the DE and ME systems may overestimate the energy value of fibrous feed ingredients. Net energy (NE) takes heat production into account, and thus may be a more accurate estimate of the energy available to the pig.

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that increasing dietary fiber in diets fed to growing pigs will increase heat production and decrease net energy values.

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Effects of chemical, physical, or enzymatic treatments on concentration of DE and ME and on digestibility of energy, organic matter, and fiber in DDGS fed to growing pigs

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of the ethanol industry, is an affordable source of energy and protein in pig diets. DDGS contains more gross energy than corn, but the energy is less digestible because of the high concentration of insoluble fiber in DDGS. If the fiber in DDGS could be made more soluble with pretreatment, its feed value would be improved.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of physical, chemical, and enzymatic pretreatments on the concentrations of digestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy and on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy, organic matter, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and neutral (NDF) detergent fiber.

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Estimation of the requirement for standardized ileal digestible lysine in 25 to 50 kg gilts

Lysine is the first limiting amino acid in swine diets based on corn and soybean meal. Lysine requirements for pigs are affected by growth rate and lean deposition rate, which in turn are affected by sex, genetics, age, and other factors. An experiment was conducted to determine the requirement for standardized ileal digestible (SID) lysine in 25 to 50 kg growing gilts.

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Digestibility of energy and concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy in processed soybean and rapeseed products fed to growing pigs

Soybean meal is the most common source of protein in swine diets in the United States. However, conventional soybean meal contains antinutritional factors such as antigenic proteins, oligosaccharides, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors that limit its use in diets fed to weanling pigs. Methods of processing soybean meal to remove antinutritional factors have been developed. These include enzyme treatment, fermentation, and the removal of soluble carbohydrates.

Like soybean meal, rapeseed products are usually not fed to weanling pigs due to the presence of glucosinolates and relatively high concentrations of fiber in these products. Previous research has shown that fermentation of soybean meal can reduce antinutritional factors and fiber concentrations. An experiment was conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and concentrations of digestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy in four sources of processed soybean products, conventional soybean meal, conventional 00-rapeseed expellers, and in a fermented mixture of co-products including 00-rapeseed expellers, wheat bran, potato peel, and soy molasses.

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Effect of phytase, fiber, and fat on calculated values for apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in fish meal

The presence of phytate in swine diets reduces the digestibility of calcium because phytate is able to bind calcium from organic sources and some inorganic sources, making it inaccessible to the pig. Microbial phytase breaks down phytate and increases the availability of calcium. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that inclusion of microbial phytase increases the apparent (ATTD) and standardized (STTD) total tract digestibility of calcium in fish meal in diets containing phytate from corn and corn germ.

Besides phytate, corn and corn germ also add fiber and fat to diets, so it is important to know how fiber and fat affect calcium digestibility. Therefore, a second experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the values of ATTD and STTD of calcium obtained from cornstarch and corn based diets may differ, and to determine the effect of dietary fiber and fat on the ATTD and STTD of calcium in fish meal.

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Comparative digestibility of energy and nutrients in diets fed to sows and growing pigs

Results of experiments in Europe have indicated that the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy and nutrients, as well as the concentration of digestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy, is greater in gestating sows fed close to their maintenance requirement than in growing pigs allowed ad libitum access to feed.

However, no data from North America for the comparative digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows and growing pigs have been reported. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows and growing pigs. A second objective was to develop equations to predict digestibility of energy and nutrients in sows from digestibility values obtained in growing pigs.

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Effects of antibiotic growth promoters in simple or complex diets fed to weanling pigs

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the number of antibiotic growth promoters that are available to be used by pigs will be reduced to reduce the risk of transferring antibiotic resistance from animals to humans. Only antibiotics that are not used in human medicine may be used as antibiotic growth promoters by animals in the future. To accommodate this change, it may be necessary to re-evaluate the use of antibiotic growth promoters in diets fed to pigs. It is possible that antibiotic growth promoters may be eliminated from swine diets if the complexity of the diets is increased. To test this hypothesis, an experiment was conducted to determine the effects of using an antibiotic growth promoter in diets formulated to vary in complexity.

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Effects of microbial phytase on apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in calcium supplements fed to growing pigs

Calcium supplementation is important for swine diets because most commonly used feed ingredients have low concentrations of calcium. In a typical corn-soybean meal diet for a growing pig, the corn and soybean meal contribute only about 16% of the total calcium, with the rest coming from supplements. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) values for calcium have not been reported for many common ingredients, and no values for the standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of calcium have been reported. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the ATTD and STTD of calcium in five calcium supplements.

An additional objective was to test the hypothesis that inclusion of microbial phytase in the diets increases the ATTD and STTD of calcium. Results of previous research has indicated that inclusion of microbial phytase in swine diets often increases the digestibility of calcium, but the effect of phytase on the STTD of calcium in individual ingredients has not been reported.

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Effects of Caromic 105 on growth performance of weanling pigs

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is an evergreen native to the Mediterranean area. Its fruit, technically a legume, consists of leathery brown pods that contain hard brown seeds in a sweet pulp. The pods can be crushed, with or without the seeds, to produce a meal that is fed to animals. Because carob pod meal contains 40-45% sugars, it promotes feed intake and adds energy to the diet. Carob pods also contain tannins. As inclusion rates of carob pod meal increase, the tannins can inhibit nutrient digestibility, which limits carob inclusion in swine diets. However, at lower inclusion rates, carob pod meal can reduce the incidence of diarrhea in weanling pigs due to the tannins' effect on the intestinal mucosa.

Caromic 105 is a deseeded, toasted, micronized carob pod meal product. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of Caromic 105 on growth performance of weanling pigs.

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Concentrations of digestible, metabolizable, and net energy in soybean meal produced in different areas of the United States and fed to pigs

One factor that affects the chemical composition of soybeans and soybean meal is where the beans were grown. For instance, soybeans grown in the northern United States contain less crude protein than soybeans grown further south. As a result, soybean meal produced from beans grown in the Northern United States often contain less crude protein than soybean meal produced from beans grown further south. However, less is known about how the concentrations of digestible (DE), metabolizable (ME), and net (NE) energy differs among meals produced from soybeans grown in different areas of the U.S. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of energy and concentrations of DE, ME, and NE in soybean meal produced from soybeans grown in different areas of the U.S. and fed to growing pigs.

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Amino acid digestibility in processed soybean products, rapeseed expellers, and a fermented mixture of co-products fed to weanling pigs

Soybean meal is the most common source of protein in swine diets in the United States. However, conventional soybean meal contains antinutritional factors such as antigenic proteins, oligosaccharides, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors that limit its use in diets fed to weanling pigs. Methods of processing soybean meal to remove antinutritional factors have been developed. These include enzyme treatment, fermentation, and the removal of soluble carbohydrates.

Like soybean meal, rapeseed products are usually not fed to weanling pigs due to the presence of glucosinolates and relatively high concentrations of fiber in these products. Previous research has shown that fermentation of soybean meal can reduce antinutritional factors and fiber concentrations. It is possible that fermentation can make 00-rapeseed meals and 00-rapeseed expellers suitable for feeding to weanling pigs, but no research has been conducted to confirm this hypothesis. An experiment was conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) by weanling pigs of crude protein and amino acids in four sources of processed soybean products, conventional soybean meal, conventional 00-rapeseed expellers, and in a fermented mixture of co-products including 00-rapeseed expellers, wheat bran, potato peel, and soy molasses.

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