Abstract
ObjectiveThis experiment investigated the effect of dietary net energy (NE) concentrations on growth performance and NE intake of growing gilts.MethodsFive diets were formulated to contain 9.6, 10.1, 10.6, 11.1, and 11.6 MJ NE/kg, respectively. A metabolism trial with 10 growing pigs (average body weight [BW] = 15.9±0.24 kg) was conducted to determine NE concentrations of 5 diets based on French and Dutch NE systems in a 5×5 replicated Latin square design. A growth trial also was performed with five dietary treatments and 12 replicates per treatment using 60 growing gilts (average BW = 15.9±0.55 kg) for 28 days. A regression analysis was performed to predict daily NE intake from the BW of growing gilts.ResultsIncreasing NE concentrations of diets did not influence average daily gain and average daily feed intake of growing gilts. There was a quadratic relationship (p = 0.01) between dietary NE concentrations and feed efficiency (G:F), although the difference in G:F among treatment means was relatively small. Regression analysis revealed that daily NE intake was linearly associated with the BW of growing gilts. The prediction equations for NE intake with the BW of growing gilts were: NE intake (MJ/d) = 1.442+(0.562×BW, kg), R2 = 0.796 when French NE system was used, whereas NE intake (MJ/d) = 1.533+(0.614×BW, kg), R2 = 0.810 when Dutch NE system was used.ConclusionIncreasing NE concentrations of diets from 9.6 to 11.6 MJ NE/kg have little impacts on growth performance of growing gilts. Daily NE intake can be predicted from the BW between 15 and 40 kg in growing gilts.
Highlights
Net energy (NE) is well known to be a better expression of available energy in diets for pigs than digestible energy (DE) or metabolizable energy (ME) because NE reflects the closest true available energy value [1]
2) Formulated NE concentrations based on NE concentrations of ingredients [7]. 3) T, overall effects of treatments; L, linear effects of increasing NE concentrations of diets; Q, quadratic effects of increasing NE concentrations of diets
2) Formulated NE concentrations based on NE concentrations of ingredients [7]. 3) T, overall effects of treatments; L, linear effects of increasing NE concentrations of diets; Q, quadratic effects of increasing NE concentrations of diets. (MJ/d) from NEaverage of diets (French NE systems) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) as a function of body weight (BW) was NE intake = 1.442+0.562×BW (n = 240, R2 = 0.796, p
Summary
Net energy (NE) is well known to be a better expression of available energy in diets for pigs than digestible energy (DE) or metabolizable energy (ME) because NE reflects the closest true available energy value [1]. The advantage of NE system over DE or ME system in diet formulation is that NE values pro vide a better prediction of pig performance, which become more obvious if diets are formulated with ingredients containing highly various concentrations of protein and fiber [1,5]. A lack of information regarding the effect of dietary NE concentrations on pig performance retards rapid and widespread adoption of NE systems. Energy intake is considered a key driving force of pig growth and has been used to recommend energy concentrations of diets [4]. How ever, much of the data concerning energy intake in pigs is based on DE or ME [4,6], whereas the www.ajas.info
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