Abstract
A total of 1,235 pigs (PIC 337 × 1050; initially 68.4 lb) were used in a 118-d study to determine the effects of 7.5 and 15% ground or unground soybean hulls on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs raised in a commercial environment. Pens of pigs were balanced by initial weight and randomly allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design with 26 to 28 pigs per pen and 9 replications per treatment. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial, and main effects were soybean hull particle size (unground or ground, 787 and 370 μ, respectively) and amount of soybean hulls (7.5 or 15%) in corn-soybean meal–based diets. The fifth treatment was a positive control, a corn-soybean meal–based diet. No particle size × soybean hull interactions (P > 0.18) occurred. Overall (d 0 to 118), increasing soybean hulls, regardless of particle size, did not affect ADG but numerically increased (P = 0.11) ADFI, resulting in poorer (linear, P < 0.02) F/G. Although F/G became worse, increasing soybean hulls in the diet improved (linear, P < 0.002) caloric efficiency on an ME and NE basis, indicating that published energy values undervalue the energy content of soybean hulls. Unexpectedly, grinding soybean hulls to a lower particle size worsened F/G (P < 0.04) and caloric efficiencies (P < 0.03).; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 15, 2012
Highlights
Soybean hulls are a readily available co-product resulting from the cracking and dehulling process in soybean oil extraction, but they may be underutilized in many swine diets because of their low energy value and the lack of published data
Reducing the particle size of soybean hulls improved bulk density compare to the unground soybean hulls
Adding increasing amounts of soybean hulls to the diets increased crude fiber (CF; from 2.6 to 7.2%) and NDF. Despite these increases in dietary CF and NDF (Table 2) with added soybean hulls, no negative effects were observed on ADG, ADFI, or final live BW (Table 3); increasing dietary soybean hulls decreased ME and NE energy of the diet and resulted in the worsening of F/G (P < 0.02)
Summary
Research at Purdue University (Bowers et al, 20004) has shown that low amounts of soybean hulls (3%) improved finishing pig ADG, ADFI, and carcass characteristics, but higher amounts of soybean hulls reduced growth performance and worsened F/G. In a recent study, Moreira et al (20095) found that grinding soybean hulls increased ME for finishing pigs when soybean hulls were ground from 751 μ to 430 μ, with potential improvements in growth performance. Validation of the benefits of grinding soybean hulls on growth performance is needed; the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of: (1) increasing amounts of soybean hulls (0, 7.5, and 15%), and (2) soybean hull particle size (787 vs 370 μ) on the growth performance of growing and finishing pigs in a commercial setting
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