Dietary levels of energy and protein on productive performance and carcass traits of growing female Mexican hairless pigs

Abstract

The Mexican hairless pig (MHP) is a slow-growing pig with an obese genotype and nutritional requirements which are different from those of pigs with lean genotypes. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) levels in the diet of female MHP during the growth period (10–25 kg). Forty five growing females with initial body weight of 12.05 ± 2.43 kg were randomly distributed in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement (n = 5) to evaluate the productive performance. When the animals reached the desired weight of 25 kg, three animals of each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered for evaluation of carcass traits and commercial cuts. The main factors were three levels of ME (2,800, 3,000, and 3200 kcal of ME/kg) and three levels of CP (180, 200, and 220 g of CP kg−1). Animals were individually housed in elevated cages (1.0 × 0.70 m) and provided with a feeder and a nipple drinker. Feed was offered ad libutum. There was no significant (P > 0.10) interaction between energy and protein levels on any of the variables evaluated. Females consuming feed with 3200 kcal of ME/kg had the greatest (P < 0.05) daily weight gain (336 g) and reached the desirable slaughter weight in shorter time (39.87 d) with lower feed consumption (38.97 kg) and better feed conversion (2.92 kg:1 kg). Carcass yield, backfat thickness and commercial cuts were similar (P > 0.10) among treatments. It´s conclude that the optimal levels of ME and CP in the diet of growing female MHP are 3200 kcal EM and 180 g PC per kg of feed.