R. Hadorn et al., EFFECT OF MILLET AND SOYBEAN HULLS ON NUT RIENT AND ENERGY-UTILIZATION IN GROWING PIGS .2. ENERGY AND N-BALANCE, Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition, 75(1), 1996, pp. 23-30
An experiment with growing pigs was conducted to examine the effects o
f various sources of dietary fibre in comparison to starch on growth p
erformance and energy utilization. Twenty percent of a control diet (K
O) were either replaced with wheat starch (20%STA), miller hulls (20%H
I) or soybean hulls (20%SO). Sixteen male Large White castrates were h
oused in individual pens from 20.0 +/- 2.5 kg live weight (LW). The an
imals were restrictively fed a pelleted diet. After having reached 36.
1 +/- 3.2 kg LW, faeces and urine were collected and calorimetric meas
urements were performed for 8 weeks. Because of the restricted feeding
, intake of gross energy did not depend on the diet. Addition of wheat
starch was followed by lower energy losses through faeces (-15%), whe
reas corresponding values were increased in diets 20%SO and 20%HI by 1
2 and 63%, respectively. No dietary influence was determined either by
energy losses in urine and methane or by heat production. Differences
in energy balance (average: 562 kJ/kg LW(3/4)+day) between the diets
were therefore mainly determined by faecal losses. According to the da
ily feed consumption and the dietary protein content, the highest N in
takes were observed for 20%SO- and KO-pigs and the lowest in diets 20%
STA and 20%HI, respectively. Millet and soybean hull addition increase
d faecal N excretion by 38 and 10%, respectively. In comparison to the
other diets, urinary N output was enlarged by 20% in diet KO. N-balan
ce and protein retention of 20%HI-pigs were decreased by 11%, whereas
no significant differences could be determined among the other diets (
average: 1.08 g N/kg LW(3/4)+day). In comparison to diet KO, fat reten
tion of 20%STA animals was increased by 14%, whereas millet hull addit
ion led to lower fat retention (-36%). It can be concluded that differ
ences in fibre utilization were mainly influenced by the processes in
the digestive tract and less by the ones in the intermediary metabolis
m.