140 Effects of Calcium Carbonate Level on Weanling Pig Growth Performance and Fecal Dry Matter

Abstract

Abstract A total of 695 barrows (DNA 200×400; initially 5.9 ± 0.02 kg) were used in 2 groups in a 28-d study to evaluate the effects of dietary calcium carbonate level on nursery pig growth performance and fecal dry matter. Upon arrival to the research facility, pigs were randomly assigned to pens with 5 pigs/pen, and pens were allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments with 27 or 28 pens/treatment. Dietary treatments were formulated to provide 0, 0.45, 0.90, 1.35, and 1.80% calcium carbonate added at the expense of corn, which resulted in total Ca of 0.49, 0.66, 0.84, 1.01 and 1.18%, respectively. All diets were formulated to contain 0.68% total P and 0.59% STTD P. Diets were fed in 2 phases with treatment diets fed from d 0 to 14 and a common diet fed from d 14 to 28. Treatment diets were fed in meal (group 1) and pellet (group 2) form. Feces were collected from 3 pigs/pen and dried to calculate fecal dry matter. There was no evidence for a treatment×group interaction and thus, groups were combined. From d 0 to 14 (treatment period), ADG (P = 0.010), d 14 BW (P = 0.006), and G:F (P = 0.010) decreased linearly as calcium carbonate increased. There was no evidence for a difference in ADFI (P > 0.10) between treatments. For fecal dry matter, there was a tendency for a quadratic response (P = 0.091) with the highest and lowest calcium carbonate diets having the greatest dry matter. Subsequent performance from d 14 to 28 was not influenced by previous treatment (P > 0.10). In summary, increasing dietary calcium carbonate from 0 to 1.80% decreased ADG and G:F in pigs the first 14-d after weaning.