Journal article

Replacing starch with fat in the diet is more effective at enhancing overall performance in finisher than grower pigs

G Brooke, AC Edwards, JR Pluske, GS Howarth, RG Campbell, FR Dunshea

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE | CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS | Published : 2015

Abstract

The addition of supplementary fat to pig diets above current dietary recommendations has generally been viewed in a negative manner because it is considered that the surplus energy will be deposited into adipose tissue, and may therefore be detrimental to carcass value. The current study sought to investigate the effects of adding supplementary fat, in place of starch, to increase the energy density of male and female pig diets on growth performance and carcass quality. A total of 288 Large White × Landrace male and female pigs (boars and gilts) were randomly allocated to pens of 12 pigs each. The effects of (i) sex (gilts v. boars), (ii) added dietary fat level (as tallow; 0 v. 40 and 80 g/..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

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Funding Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to staff at the Roseworthy Piggery and SARDI Pig and Poultry Production Institute for care of animals, help with collection of data and laboratory analyses. The Australian Cooperative Research Centre for an Internationally Competitive Pork Industry (Pork CRC) financially supported this research.