139 Effects of Wheat Middlings Inclusion Rate and Diet form on Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs

Abstract

Abstract A total of 2,520 mixed sex pigs (initial BW = 5.6 kg) were used in a 41-d trial to evaluate the effects of wheat middlings inclusion rate and diet form on the growth performance of nursery pigs. Pen of pigs (36 pigs/pen) were allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments arranged as a 2 x 2 + 1 factorial with the main effects of wheat middlings (0 or 15%) and diet form (pellet or crumble). An additional treatment was added to the factorial design to evaluate the addition of wheat middlings outside of the crumble. To create the crumble diets, all ingredients were pelleted, crumbled, and then mixed with corn and soybean meal to create the dietary treatments, with the exception of wheat middlings in treatment 5, which was added alongside corn and soybean meal outside of the crumble. The experimental diets were fed from d 0 to 21 and a common corn-soybean meal-based diet was fed from d 21 to 41. There were 14 replicates per treatment. Pigs were weighed on d 0, 21, and 41 to calculate ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Data was analyzed with SAS MIXED procedure. There was no evidence (P > 0.10) for interactive effects. From d 0 to 21, pigs fed pelleted diets had improved (P < 0.01) ADG and G:F. However, in the subsequent period, when pigs were fed a common diet, pigs previously fed the crumble diets had improved (P < 0.01) performance. Overall (d 0 to 41), pigs fed crumble diets had greatr (P < 0.05) ADG and ADFI and decreased (P < 0.01) G:F. Pigs fed 0 or 15% wheat middlings had similar (P > 0.10) growth performance, regardless of wheat middlings being incorporated in the crumble or not. In conclusion, pigs fed pelleted diets had improved performance initially but not in the overall nursery period and there was no negative impact of feeding 15% wheat middlings.