Effects of Expander Processing and Enzyme Supplementation of Wheat-based Diets for Finishing Pigs

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of expander processing and enzyme supplementation of wheat-based diets on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in finishing pigs. For Exp. 1, 60 finishing pigs (average initial BW of 49.5 kg) were fed meal, standard pellets and expanded pellets in a 70 d growth assay. From 49.5 to 79.0 kg, 79.0 to 111.8 kg, and overall (49.5 to 111.8 kg), ADG and ADFI were not affected by pelleting or standard vs expander conditioning (p>0.22). However, from 49.5 to 79.0 kg, pigs fed pellets have greater gain/feed than pigs fed mash (p<0.04), and pigs fed expanded pellets tended to have greater (p<0.10) gain/feed than pigs fed standard pellets. Overall (i.e. from 49.5 to 111.8 kg), gain/feed (p<0.02) and apparent fecal digestibilities of DM (p<0.001) and N (p<0.02) were improved by pelleting the diets. Also, expander processing further improved gain/feed (p<0.06) and digestibility of DM (p<0.04) compared to standard steam conditioning. Scores for keratinization (p<0.002) and ulceration (p<0.003) of the stomach were increased by pelleting, but the mean scores for the various treatments ranged only from 0.05 to 1.08 (i.e., low to mild keratosis and ulceration). For Exp. 2, 80 pigs (average initial BW of 54.1 kg) were fed mash and pellets (standard or expander) without and with xylanase. The enzyme was added to supply 4,000 units of xylanase activity/kg of diet. Adding xylanase to the mash diet improved gain/feed from 90.7 to 115.9 kg (p<0.04) of the growth assay and digestibility of DM (p<0.05) on d 39. However, in pelleted diets, adding the enzyme did not improve growth performance or digestibility of nutrients. Pelleting tended to increase scores for ulceration (p<0.06), and enzyme supplementation decreased stomach keratinization scores for pigs fed the standard pellets (p<0.01). However, as in Exp. 1, the mean scores for all treatment groups were quiet low (i.e., ranging from normal to mild). In conclusion, pelleting improved efficiency of growth, but additional benefits from expander conditioning were observed only in Exp. 1. Finally, xylanase tended to improve growth performance and nutrient digestibility, only in pigs fed mash diets but not in pigs fed pellets. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2003. Vol 16, No. 2 : 248-256)