Porcine somatotropin alters body composition and the distribution of fat and lean tissue in the finisher gilt

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine whether porcine somatotropin (pST) reduces whole animal and belly fat using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and manual dissection. The study utilised 24 Large White x Landrace gilts selected at 16 weeks of age with an approximate liveweight of 80 kg and housed in individual pens. Gilts were stratified on liveweight into 8 blocks and 1 pig from each block was assigned to either 0, 5 or 10 mg per day of pST. Pigs were fed ad libitum a wheat-based diet containing 200 g crude protein, 10.2 g available lysine and 14.6 MJ DE/kg, to ensure that responses to pST were expressed. Feed intake and liveweight were measured on a weekly basis. An Hologic QDR4500..