The voluntary feed intake of pigs given feeds based on wheat bran, dried citrus pulp and grass meal, in relation to measurements of feed bulk

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the capacities of pigs for bulky feeds. In Expt 1 fifteen pigs were offered, from 12 to 25 kg live weight, ad lib. access to one of five feeds which were made by progressively diluting a high-quality feed with wheat bran. Intake initially increased, and then declined, as the proportion of wheat bran was increased. The pigs became better able to accommodate to the more bulky feeds over time. In Expt 2 thirty-six pigs, initially of 12 kg live weight, were used. The feeds were the same high-quality basal feed as in Expt 1 and three others made almost entirely of either wheat bran, dried grass or dried citrus pulp, respectively. The equal-parts mixtures of each of these three bulky feeds with the basal feed were also made to give three series of feeds each comprising the basal, the mixture and the bulky feed. The three feeds in each series were given ad lib. to twelve pigs in a design of two replicated Latin squares with three time-periods. Within each series, and across periods, the intakes of the feeds that were limiting intake were directly proportional to live weight and so a scaled intake, expressed as g/kg live weight per d, was calculated. Across the six limiting feeds, scaled intakes in the final 5 d of each period, when the pigs were in equilibrium with their feeds, were directly proportional to the reciprocal of the water-holding capacities (WHC) of the feeds, as measured by a centrifugation method. There were large effects of feed changes on intake, in the short term, with previous experience of a bulky feed leading to higher intakes of another bulky feed. The intake of the basal feed was not affected by the feed given previously. It was concluded that: (a) the time of adaptation to bulky feeds needs to be considered when attempting to measure, or predict, the rates of intake on different bulky feeds and, (b) the WHC of the feeds could be an appropriate measurement of 'bulk' responsible for limiting their intake, and could be used to predict the maximum feed intake capacity of pigs on different bulky feeds.