The response of performance in grower and finisher pigs to diets formulated to different tryptophan to lysine ratios

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to determine the optimal dietary standardized ileal digestible (SID) Trp to Lys ratio (Trp:Lys) for grower-finisher pigs with body weight of 20–50 (Experiment (Exp.) 1), 50–80 (Exp. 2), and 80–110 kg (Exp. 3). A total of 4032 Duroc × Yorkshire × Landrace barrows and gilts were used in the experiments with a randomized complete blocked design. For each experiment, 1344 pigs were randomly assigned into 6 dietary treatments (SID Trp:Lys levels: 0.150, 0.165, 0.180, 0.195, 0.210, and 0.225) with 8 replicate pens per treatment (14 barrows and 14 gilts per pen). Synthetic Trp was used to adjust the dietary SID Trp:Lys, while the Lys content in all 6 diets remained fixed in each experiment. In Exp. 1, the average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), gain to feed ratio (G:F), and serum urea N (SUN) were increased quadratically (P < 0.01) as the SID Trp:Lys increased from 0.150 to 0.225. The optimal SID Trp:Lys for ADG estimated using broken-line and curvilinear-plateau models were 0.171 and 0.188, respectively. For G:F, the break-points were 0.192 and 0.207 for the linear and quadratic models, respectively. In Exp. 2, a quadratic increase was observed in ADG, ADFI, G:F, and SUN as the SID Trp:Lys increased from 0.150 to 0.225 (P < 0.05). The optimal SID Trp:Lys for ADG estimated using the broken-line and curvilinear-plateau models were 0.183 and 0.200, respectively. The break-points for G:F estimated using broken-line and curvilinear-plateau models were 0.195 and 0.213, respectively. In Exp. 3, the ADG, G:F, and SUN increased quadratically with increasing SID Trp:Lys, while ADFI increased linearly (P < 0.05). The optimal SID Trp:Lys for ADG estimated using the broken-line and curvilinear-plateau models were 0.184 and 0.201, respectively. Likewise for G:F, the best ratios were 0.174 and 0.198 for the linear and curvilinear models, respectively. In summary, the optimal Trp:Lys for ADG estimated using the broken-line model in pigs weighing 20 to 50, 50 to 80, and 80 to 110 kg were 0.171, 0.183, and 0.184, respectively. The optimal Trp:Lys for G:F estimated using the broken-line model in pigs weighing 20 to 50, 50 to 80, and 80 to 110 kg were 0.192, 0.195, and 0.174, respectively.