The effects of tri-basic copper chloride on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs

Abstract Text:

A total of 540 pigs (PIC 337 × Camborough 29; initially 37.9 kg) were used in a 103-d study to determine the effects of tri-basic copper chloride (TBCC; Intellibond C, Micronutrients, Indianapolis, IN) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. Pens of pigs were allotted to 1 of 2 dietary treatments based on average pen weight in a randomized complete-block design with 27 pigs per pen and 10 replicates per treatment. Diets were corn-soybean meal-based with 20 to 30% dried distiller’s grains with solubles. Treatments were the control diet with or without the addition of 200 mg/kg Cu from tri-basic copper chloride. Both treatment diets contained 16 mg/kg of Cu from CuSO₄ in the trace mineral premix. Overall, ADG was increased (P = 0.036) by 2.3% for pigs fed TBCC compared to the control, resulting in 1.9-kg heavier (P = 0.060) final BW. There were no differences in ADFI between treatments. Thus, the growth response resulted in a tendency for greater (P = 0.070) G:F for pigs consuming diets containing 200 mg/kg supplemental Cu from TBCC. Hot carcass weights were 2.3 kg heavier (P= 0.013) for pigs fed TBCC compared to the control; however, carcass yield was not affected. Backfat, loin depth, and percent lean were also not influenced by dietary treatment. In summary, adding 200 mg/kg Cu from TBCC to diets for finishing pigs from 38 to 130 kg increased ADG and HCW and tended to increase G:F compared to pigs fed the control diet.

 

Table 1. Effect of tri-basic copper chloride in finishing pigs.
	TBCC, mg/kg		Pooled SEM
	0	200		Probability, P <
BW, kg
d 0	37.9	38.0	0.471	0.615
d 103	128.2	130.1	0.988	0.060
ADG, g	868	888	12.248	0.036
ADFI, g	2,497	2,517	24.855	0.474
G:F, g/kg	347	353	3.441	0.070
HCW, kg	96.0	98.3	0.655	0.013
Carcass yield, %	75.8	76.4	0.300	0.136

Keywords: copper, pig, growth