Livestock Notes
(Continued from Pago Old)
swine that are native to China.
Although over a year has passed
since this information became
public, Chinese pigs are still on the
minds of many individuals—par
ticularly animal scientists. Since
most of the controversy concern
ing Chinese pigs has subsided,
research articles now are begin
ning to appear in scientific
literature.
Basically, Chinese pigs are
novel research models because
they are more prolific and
maternally-oriented, but less
growth- and carcass-oriented than
domestic American breeds and
strains. There are four strains of
swine native to the Taihu region of
China Meishan, Fcngjing,
Jtanxing and Erhualian. Gilts
attain puberty at earlier ages (73 to
121 days) and considerably lighter
weights (30 to 60 pounds) than
gilts of American breeds. Howev
er, Chinese pigs are considerably
slower growing, fatter and have
less carcass muscle than American
hogs. Therefore, the reproductive
advantages gained by using Chin
ese pigs often are sacrificed due to
their poor growth and carcass com
position. From a research
viewpoint, one would ideally want
to capitalize on the litter and pub
erty traits of Chinese breeds, while
improving growth and carcass
traits to levels similar to American
hogs. Crossbreeding and the use of
metabolic modifiers both have the
potential to improve the practical
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usefulness of Chinese pigs in mod
em swine production regimens.
In a recent report, researchers at
the USDA Research Center in
Clay Center, ME, used both regi
mens to evaluate growth and car
cass traits of purebred and
crossbred pigs. Three groups of
swine were compared, 1) Duroc x
White composite crossbreds; 2)
Meishan x White composite cross
breds; and 3) Meishan purebreds.
Meishan purebreds were slower
growing, ate less feed, and were
less efficient converting feed to
gain than either crossbred group.
Furthermore, Meishan purebreds
had shorter carcasses, lower dress
ing percentage, smaller loin
muscle area, and less carcass
muscle than both crossbred
groups. Similar relationships
existed for the Meishan crossbreds
compared with the Duroc cross
breds. Meishan crossbreds were
slower growing and less feed effi
cient, and had smaller loin muscle
area and less carcass muscle than
the Duroc crossbreds. In all three
breed groups, addition of ractopa
mine, a beta-adrenergic agonist, to
the diet increased growth rate, car
cass muscle content, and dressing
percentage, and improved feed
efficiency.
Therefore, dietary supplementa
tion of ractopamine is effective in
reducing fat deposition and impro
ving the rate and efficiency of
weight gain in three different gene
tic lines of swine. In the future, it
may be possible to capitalize com-
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mercially on the reproductive per
formance of Chinese pigs, while
improving growth and carcass
characteristics by crossbreeding
with domestic American lines and
with the use of metabolic
modifiers.
Source: Yen et a1.,1991, J.
Anim. Sci. 69:4810.
FEEDING FAT
TO FINISHING
PIGS IN
HOT WEATHER
Self-fed pigs routinely decrease
feed intake in hot weather. To help
make up for the lower nutrient
intake during a hot summer, many
feed manufacturers and swine pro
ducers add fat and lysine to diets in
order to increase the nutrient den
sity of the feed the pigs do eat.
Kansas State researchers recen
tly studied this practice to deter
mine the effect of added dietary fat
and lysine on growth rate, feed
efficiency and estimated carcass
composition (via ultrasound) in
finishing hogs.
A group of 160 finishing pigs
averaging 127 pounds were
divided into four treatment catego
ries and fed to an average final
weight of 230 pounds on one of the
following four diets: (1) .61 per
cent lysine control; (2) .61 percent
lysine plus five percent added fat;
(3) .81 percent lysine; (4) .81 per
cent lysine plus five percent added
fat. Daily high and low tempera
tures were recorded during the
entire experiment (September
5-Novembcr 8, 1991).
During the first 21 days of the
trial, the average high temperature
was 94 degrees F. In this period,
pigs on the high fat diets converted
feed to gain more efficiently than
those without added fat. During
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the next two-week period, the
average high temperature dropped
to less than 85 degrees F, and the
advantage in feed efficiency was
less evident. Over the entire 63 day
trial, however, pigs fed fat were
more efficient feed converters, but
were no different in measurements
of daily gain or feed intake.
Increasing lysine level had no
effect on gain, feed intake, or feed
efficiency.
Ultrasound carcass composition
estimates showed some interesting
differences. Adding fat to finish
ing rations increased backfat by .1
inch and slightly decreased loincyc
area by .15 square inches. Added
lysine had no effect on backfat
depth, but loineyc area was
increased by .20 square inches.
Since lysine had no effect on
growth rale, feed intake, or effi
ciency, and little impact on carcass
parameters, let’s compare the feed
savings of the high fat-diet with the
increase in backfat if the pigs were
sold under Hatfield’s system.
If we use com at $2.85/bu. and
vegetable fat at $.15/pound, the
control diet would cost about
$l4O/ton vs. $l5O/lon for the high
fat diet. The feed efficiencies
reported in the study were 3.63 and
3.37 pounds of fccd/pound of gain
for the control and added fat diets
respectively. Although pigs fed fat
did convert feed more efficiently
than controls, the increased diet
cost negated most of the savings as
total feed costs for the finishing
period were reduced by only
$.15/head.
If we sold these pigs through a
buying station or auction, we could
expect to save $.15/head for the
extra trouble of adding fat to the
diet, but if we sold them under Hat
field’s weight and grade program,
what would the extra tenth-of-an
mch of backfat and slightly smaller
loineye area cost in lost income?
Tenth rib backfat and loineye
areas for the study were reported as
.79 in., 4.73 sq. in. and .89 in., 4.56
PRO”
Aaooucrs
METHODS 5 cc per day for 21 days, followed
by 1 cc per day thereafter, in the feed or in the
water, along with balanced rations.
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sq. in. for the control and high fat
diets, respectively. Plugged into
Hatfield’s percent lean cuts equa
tion, both groups of pigs were
above the average of 56 percent
(57.7 percent for the control diet
and 56.6 percent for the high fat
,dict) and would qualify for a
bonus.
A rough rule of thumb is that
each percent above 56 percent is
worth about $.BO/carcass cwt.
Assuming a 165 lb. carcass, the
pigs fed the control diet are worth
about $1.45 more/head than the
pigs fed the added fat diet Even
when we subtract the feed cost sav
ings of the pigs fed added fat, the
control pigs are still worth an aver
age of $1.30/head more.
Summary (1) Increasing lysine
levels in finishing swine during hot
weather did not affect gain, feed
intake, feed efficiency, or backfat,
and increased loineyc area only
slightly (not nearly enough to jus
tify the cost of the additional
lysinc-cvcn when pigs arc sold on
a carcass value basis). (2) Adding
fat to finishing swine diets
improved feed efficiency only if
daily temperatures averaged over
R 5 degrees F, but had no effect on
feed intake or gain. (3) Added fat
resulted in falter carcasses and
slightly smaller loineyc areas. (4)
Added fat results in a small savings
in feed costs, but probably should
not be considered if pigs are to be
sold on a carcass value basis.
Source: K.G. Friesen, R. D.
Goodband, R. C. Thaler and J. L.
Nclssen. Kansas State University
Swine Day, 1991.
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