3 Nursery Pig Research Under Dr. Gary Allee

Abstract

Abstract Dr. Gary Allee focused on many different topics in nursery pig nutrition over his years at Kansas State University and University of Missouri. This talk will discuss four main areas of research. The first area of research was evaluating soybean meal and soy products and hypersensitivity in early weaned pigs. They demonstrated that allergens present in soybean meal caused a hypersensitivity in weaned pigs which reduced feed intake and growth in the early nursery period, but the pigs recovered to be of similar weight at the end of the nursery. They also demonstrated that high protein soy products do not cause this same reaction. The second area was evaluating new sources of sugars/lactose for nursery diets. When dried whey permeate was first produced and considered to be a novel ingredient, they demonstrated that it could replace the lactose from whey and skim milk in weaned pig diets. Further research showed that up to 50% of the lactose requirement could be met by other simple sugars provided by sugar food by-products. The third area was understanding of the mode of action in which spray-dried plasma works in weaned pig diets. They demonstrated that while being fed plasma, there was a reduction in immune stimulation to the pig, which resulted in an improved feed intake and growth after weaning. The fourth area was evaluating fish meal and fish oil. They demonstrated that both fish oil and fish meal alter the immune system, but fish meal was the best at improving performance under challenging conditions. These trials were both relevant at the time they were run to influence practical nursery diet formulation, but also helped set the background for future trials.