Paylean® improves feed conversion efficiency of entire and immunocastrated male pigs

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

Disciplines

Meat Science

Abstract

Paylean® (ractopamine) is an in-feed β-agonist that increases the rate of protein deposition in pigs. It is absorbed into the blood stream and binds to specific beta receptors on the cell membrane of muscles where its primary response is to increase the size of muscle fibres (Dunshea and Walton, 1995). Paylean® is added to the diet of finisher pigs for the last 28 days before slaughter. It is currently included at a rate of 5 ppm for the 28 days however, it is known that after three to four weeks there is a down-regulation of the beta-receptors. This has driven interest in ‘step-up’ programs where the concentration of Paylean is periodically increased (eg. 5 ppm Paylean® for the first two weeks, followed by 10 ppm Paylean® for the next two weeks). Most of the research on Paylean® has been carried out on females and surgically castrated male pigs. However, little is known about the effect of Paylean® supplementation (both normal and step-up programs) on the growth performance and carcass quality of pork from immunologically castrated male pigs. The immunocastration of entire male pigs is a standard practice in many Australian commercial piggeries. The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of two levels of Paylean® supplementation on the growth performance and carcass quality of entire and immunocastrated male pigs.

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