DIETARY PREFERENCES FOR CEREALS OF NURSING AND WEANED PIGLETS

The aim of this study was to determine piglets preferences among sampl es of corn (C), wheat (W), barley (B), and oats (O). In Expt. 1, 18 nu rsing Canadian Landrace litters from 10 to 21 days of age (4.0 +/- 0.8 2 to 7.4 +/- 1.3 kg body weight) were used in preference tests with di ets containing 70% of C, W, B, or O and 30% of a basal mix. Maximum pe rcent of relative preference and highest average daily intake per pigl et were obtained with diets containing W (60% and 4.3 g, respectively) , followed by C (56%, 3.7 g), B (47%, 2.8 g), and finally O (36%, 1.4 g). Only the difference between W and O was significant (P < 0.05). In Expt. 2, the same protocol was applied to 12 weaned litters of 21 to 34 days of age (8.06 +/- 1.65 to 9.6 +/- 1.87 kg body weight). Similar relative preferences were observed, W being clearly preferred (74%, 1 33 g), followed by C (58%, 112 g), B (50%, 68.6 g), and finally O (17. 3%, 24 g). The differences between W, C, and B vs. O were all highly s ignificant (P < 0.001), whereas W vs. C and W vs. B were significant ( P < 0.01), and finally no significant (P > 0.05) difference was observ ed between C and B. The results of this experiment showed that piglets were capable, when given a choice, of distinguishing between, and exp ressing a preference for, diets containing one of the four cereals cho sen for this study.