A note on the digestive indices of pigs fed ad libitum intact or ground royal palm nut

Eight pigs 43.4 kg were fed soybean meal and intact or ground royal palm nu t dried outdoors. 74% royal palm nut containing 2.2 N x 6.25, 26.5 crude fi bre, 55.9 NDF and 25.5% ether extract on a dry basis was included in the di et. A trend (P < 0.10) towards a beneficial effect of grinding was found on DM digestibility and crude fibre and was highly significant (P < 0.001) in NDF. The digestive indices were generally low due to the high ash and crud e fibre percentages of the diet. The pH and faecal DM were not affected by the treatment, however daily faecal output of fresh material and water were significantly higher (P < 0.05) and faecal concentration of SCHFR was sign ificantly lower (P > 0.05) in pigs fed ground royal palm nut. It is recomme nded to feed ground and non-intact royal palm nuts to pigs.