Digestible and Metabolizable Energy in Ground Yellow Corn, Rice Bran, and Copra Meal Fed to 10 to 15 kg Philippine Native Pigs (Benguet Strain)

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy in ground yellow corn, rice bran, and copra meal when fed to Philippine native pigs. Nine barrows with an average initial bodyweight of 10 kg and ages ranging from 60 to 75 d old were housed individually in metabolism crates and randomly allotted to a triplicated incomplete 3 × 2 Latin square design with three diets and two periods. A corn-based diet containing 94.89% yellow corn and two diets containing 66.42% yellow corn and 30% rice bran or copra meal were fed to the native pigs for 10 d, which included a 5 d adaptation period and a 5 d collection period. The DE and ME in rice bran and copra meal were calculated using the substitution procedure with yellow corn as the basal ingredient. On a dry matter basis, ground yellow corn contained 3445 DE and 3314 ME kcal/kg, with 75.45% ATTD of gross energy (GE). Rice bran had 4137 DE and 4034 ME kcal/kg with 87.02% ATTD of GE, whereas copra meal contained 2914 DE and 2841 ME kcal/kg, with 64.72% ATTD of GE. These values are important in the establishment of feeding standards for the Philippine native pigs.