Performance responses of weaned pigs when fermented soybean meal (NF8) was replaced with a modified grain by-product (Gold Pro)

Abstract Text: The objective of this study was to determine in a commercial research environment if performance could be maintained when fermented soybean meal was replaced as a protein source, with a modified, fermented corn by-product (Gold Pro), at graded levels in the diet: 10% NF8 (NONE), 5% NF8 + 5% Gold Pro (PARTIAL) and 10% of Gold Pro (COMPLETE). The experiment involved 472 weaned pigs (21 days of age, 6.6 kg) that were allocated to either NONE, PARTIAL or COMPLETE replacement treatment diet, allocated by weight and weaning age, and blocked within the barn. A commercial wean to finish barn was used (29 pigs per pen, 4-6 pens per treatment) with a FANCOM feed system. To test the immediate post-weaning effect of the protein replacement, pigs were placed immediately onto treatments upon arrival; there was no adaptation period. Pens of pigs were weighed and feed disappearances were recorded on d 0, 7, and 21, which were used to calculate ADG, ADFI, and FCR. To replicate commercial production as closely as possible, pigs that did not respond to treatment with injectable antibiotic were tagged and removed to sick pens. At the end of the trial it was determined if pigs that were removed from trial had died (% mortality), or remained as viable pigs (% morbidity). Medical treatments were recorded daily. Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using GLM procedure in Minitab with Tukey’s test to determine differences between dietary treatments. There were no differences for (P>0.10) for d 0-21 ADG, ADFI, or FCR. There were no differences (P>0.10) observed for % morbidity/pen.  However, pigs fed the PARTIAL and COMPLETE feed had a lower % mortality/pen (P<0.01) in contrast with pigs fed the NONE treatment. There was a trend (P<0.10) for pigs fed the NONE treatment to have more medical treatments/pen compared to pigs fed the PARTIAL and COMPLETE treatments. In conclusion, Gold Pro can be used as an alternative protein ingredient to replace fermented soybean meal in weaned pig starter rations without loss of growth performance, and may have benefits on health.

 Table 1. Summary of Performance Day 0 to 21

	NONE	PARTIAL	COMPLETE	SE	P-value
ADG, g	303	296	303	19.3	0.829
ADFI, g	413	405	430	27.4	0.455
FCR	1.36	1.37	1.41	0.051	0.379
% Morbidity/pen	0.69	0.99	0.25	1.836	0.936
% Mortality/pen	3.80a	1.20b	0.00b	1.048	0.005
Treats/pen	4.8c	1.4d	1.7d	1.71	0.069

Keywords: Pigs, Protein, Ingredient