1354
Effect of wheat and wheat with corn distillers grain on growth performance in nursery pigs
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of substituting wheat or wheat and corn distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) for corn in the phase 2 and 3 starter diets. The objective of this study was to determine if wheat is a viable alternative to corn in starter diets. A total of 126 pigs (4-6 pigs per pen and 8 pens per treatment) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned treatments within block. Pigs were weaned at 20 ±2 d and fed a common diet (ME 3.4 kcal/kg; 1.5% SID lysine) 0-7 d post weaning, initial weight of 6.3 kg, NS. The 3 experimental diets (1, control, corn diet (C); 2, 30% wheat (W); and 3, 30% wheat and 30% DDGS (WCD)) were fed in 2 phases: phase 2 (ME:3.3 kcal/g, 1.4 % SID lysine) from d 7-21 post-weaning and phase 3 diets (ME: 3.3 kcal/g, 1.2% SID lysine) from d 21-35. All diets were formulated to meet the dietary requirements according to the 2012 Swine NRC. Body weight gain and feed disappearance were determined weekly. Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS. Overall, pigs fed 30% W (21.6 kg) had body weights that were similar to those fed the C diet (21.0 kg, P = 0.17). Pigs fed the WCD diet were significantly heavier (22.6 kg, P < 0.01) than those fed C (21.0 kg). The ADFI was similar among treatments in phase 2 (569 g/d, NS), but was greater in those fed WCD in phase 3 (C, 888; W, 870; WCD 1006 g/d; P < 0.02) and overall (C, 728; W, 718; WCD 791 g/d; P < 0.02). The G: F was improved in pigs fed WCD in phase 2 (C, 0.62; W, 0.62; WCD 0.67; P < 0.02), but not in phase 3 or overall. In conclusion, these results indicate that wheat can be substituted for corn in nursery diets and that wheat in combination with DDGS may be superior to corn based diets.
Keywords: Wheat, DDGS, Nursery pig performance