FEEDING VALUE FOR PIGS OF CANOLA MEAL DERIVED FROM WESTAR AND TRIAZINE-TOLERANT CULTIVARS

Abstract

Oil-extracted meals from Westar (WCM) and triazine-tolerant (TCM) canola seed (B. napus) were fed at levels of 0, 10, 20 and 30% of the diet to seven barrows of 35 kg initial weight in digestibility trials conducted in four successive replicates. The digestion coefficients for energy were 66 and 69%, respectively, and for crude protein were 76 and 80%. The corresponding digestible energy values were 13.31 and 13.96 MJ kg−1, respectively, and the digestible crude protein values were 32.6 and 37.5%, indicating that the WCM sample was inferior to the TCM sample. The meals were compared in a feeding trial involving 80 pigs housed in groups of four but fed individually from 23 to 100 kg liveweight. Five protein supplement combinations (soybean meal alone (control) and WCM or TCM replacing 50 or 100% of the soy protein) were tested in barley:wheat (2:1) diets with or without supplemental lysine (0.15–0.18%) and fed in meal or pellet form to male and female pigs. There were no significant differences among meals tested in average daily gain in either the growing (0.74 kg) or the finishing period (0.81 kg) but efficiency of feed utilization during the grower period (23–57 kg) was better with soybean meal diets than with the CM diets. Lysine supplementation improved daily gains from 0.70 to 0.77 kg in the grower period and from 0.79 to 0.83 kg in the finisher period. The corresponding improvements in feed:gain ratios were from 2.89 to 2.66 and from 3.75 to 3.62. Pelleting improved daily gain from 0.75 to 0.80 kg and feed:gain from 3.39 to 3.18, over the 23- to 100-kg weight range. Key words: Canola meal, Westar, triazine-tolerant, pigs, feeding trial