Feeding pigs low levels of organic copper and zinc during the grower and finisher phases benefits performance and reduces faecal excretion

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2005

Conference Title

Tenth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association

Place of Publication

Christchurch

ISBN

978-0-9806880-4-7

ISSN

1324-9177

Keywords

pigs, swine, pork

Disciplines

Meat Science

Abstract

Using organic forms of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in the diets of nursery pigs reduces the content of these minerals in the diet without adversely affecting pig performance and while also reducing faeces excretion (Wu et al., 2001). However, few studies have examined the effect of feeding Cu and Zn at low levels in both grower and finisher pigs. The aim of this experiment was to compare the performance and faecal mineral excretion of pigs fed Cu and Zn in an organic form as Bioplex® or in an inorganic form as sulphate, at two levels of dietary inclusion. The experiment was designed as a 2x2 factorial, with two mineral forms (organic and inorganic) and two inclusion levels (low and high). One hundred and sixty female pigs (Large White x Landrace) were used through the growing and finishing phases (25–107 kg live weight). The low level aimed to provide 25 ppm of Cu and 40 ppm of Zn per kg while the high level aimed to provide 160 ppm of Cu and 160 ppm of Zn per kg. These levels were fed in diets formulated for the growing and finishing phases of pigs. The mineral supplement incorporated in the diets contained Cu and Zn sulphate or Bioplex® Cu and Bioplex® Zn (Alltech Biotechnology P/L, Victoria, Australia) according to their required levels in each diet. Pigs were fed ad libitum. Measurements of individual live weight were made weekly throughout the experiment and faecal samples were collected from a random sub-sample of 4 pigs/pen (5 pens/treatment) at 36 and 97 kg live weight. Analysis of variance, using the pen as the unit, was used to examine the main effects of mineral form and inclusion level, and all interactions between these factors on average daily gain (ADG), voluntary feed intake (VFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) as well as faecal excretion of Cu and Zn. Growth performance was analysed over the experimental period and faecal excretions were averaged from individual samples collected during the grower and finisher periods.

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