Comparative digestibility of energy, dry matter, and nutrients by gestating and lactating sows fed corn–soybean meal diets without or with full-fat or defatted rice bran

Abstract

Twenty-four gestating sows and 24 lactating sows were randomly allotted to three diets with eight replicate sows per treatment in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement. Different sows were used in gestation and lactation periods. The hypothesis was that digestibility of gross energy (GE), dry matter (DM), and nutrients in lactating sows is not different from that in gestating sows. A corn–soybean-meal diet and two full-fat-rice-bran or defatted rice bran diets were used. Results indicated that regardless of diet, lactating sows had greater (P < 0.01) apparent total tract digestibility of GE, DM, neutral detergent fiber, organic matter, and phosphorus than gestating sows.