Research Article Open Access

Evaluation of Fibrous Diets for Finishing Pigs: Digestibility, Performance and Carcass Traits

Bernardo Berenchtein1, Adibe Luiz Abdalla2, Patrícia Pimentel Santos Riguetto2, Adibe Luiz Abdalla Filho3, Paulo de Mello Tavares Lima3, Nerandi Luiz Camerini1, Hugo von Linsingen Piazzetta1, Noédson Jesus Beltrão Machado4 and Alessandro Ulrich1
  • 1 Federal University of South Frontier, Brazil
  • 2 University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • 3 University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • 4 Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate digestibility, performance and carcass traits of finishing pigs fed fibrous diets, such as, basal diet (Control treatment) and inclusion of Tifton-85 hay, Soybean hulls or Citrus pulp. Twenty crossbred castrated male pigs, with average body weight of 70.00±1.95 kg, distributed in a randomized block design with four treatments and five repetitions (blocks) were used to evaluate apparent total tract digestibility of dietary nutrients. To evaluate animal performance and carcass traits, eighty commercial hybrids pigs with 120 days of age and average body weight of 73.00±3.3 kg were used. Pigs were distributed in 40 boxes according to gender and body weight, with one castrated male and one female pig per pen (experimental unit), in a randomized block design with 10 repetitions (blocks) per treatment were used. Regarding the digestibility assay, Tifton hay presented 2425 kcal of digestible energy/kg, with low digestible protein content (3.36%). Citrus pulp presented 2850 kcal of digestible energy/kg, also with low digestible protein content (1.47%). Soybean hulls showed 2250 kcal of digestible energy/kg, with relatively medium crude protein digestibility coefficient (7.85%). Offering different fiber sources in the finishing phase for pigs promoted significant differences (p<0.05) in animal performance parameters (daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed conversion) and no significant effect (p>0.05) was observed for carcass parameters. Given the results obtained in this study, Soybean hull showed to be a promising ingredient to be used in diets of finishing pigs, leading to good results on animal performance and also contributing to the sustainability of pig production.

American Journal of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
Volume 14 No. 1, 2019, 19-25

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajavsp.2019.19.25

Submitted On: 19 April 2018 Published On: 11 February 2019

How to Cite: Berenchtein, B., Abdalla, A. L., Santos Riguetto, P. P., Abdalla Filho, A. L., Tavares Lima, P. M., Camerini, N. L., Piazzetta, H. V. L., Beltrão Machado, N. J. & Ulrich, A. (2019). Evaluation of Fibrous Diets for Finishing Pigs: Digestibility, Performance and Carcass Traits. American Journal of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, 14(1), 19-25. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajavsp.2019.19.25

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Keywords

  • Tifton Hay
  • Soybean Hulls
  • Citric Pulp