ABSTRACT
Twenty-four weaner pigs were
used in a study to evaluate the response of weaner and grower pigs to diets
containing graded levels of toasted soybean hull (SBH).In experiment 1(growing
phase), twenty-four male hybrid (large white x landrace) weaner pigs, about 6
weeks old, weighing 5.92-6.85kg were randomly divided into four groups of six
pigs each using a completely randomized design (CRD). Each group was randomly
assigned to one of the four diets (1, 2, 3 and 4) containing 0% (control), 10,
15 and 20% SBH for 56 days. Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 2 pigs
per replicate placed on a concrete-floored pen. The diets were formulated to be
isocaloric and isonitrogenous supplying 2800kcal ME/kg and 18% crude protein.
In experiment 2 (finishing phase), twenty-four male hybrid (large white x
landrace ) grower pigs, about 14 weeks old, weighing 9.12-9.90kg were randomly
divided into four groups of six pigs each using a completely randomized design
(CRD). Each group was randomly assigned to one of the four diets (1, 2, 3 and
4) containing 0% (control), 10, 20 and 30% SBH for 56 days. Each treatment was
replicated 3 times with
2 pigs per replicate placed on a concrete-floored pen. The diets were
formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous supplying 2900kcal ME/kg and 16%
crude protein. Daily feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio,
protein efficiency ratio and feed cost per kg weight gain were determined. At
the end of each experiment, blood samples were collected from two pigs per
treatment for haematological evaluation. Two pigs per treatment were also
slaughtered for carcass evaluation at the end of the finishing experiment.
In experiment 1, results
showed that pigs fed the 10% SBH diet had higher(P<0.05) average final body
weight, average weight gain and better efficiency of feed conversion than those
fed 20% SBH diet. Increasing levels of SBH in the diets had no significant
effect (P>0.05) on the PER values. Differences between the treatments in
total digestible nutrients (TDN) were significant (P<0.05). Feed cost per kg
weight gain was reduced at the 10% SBH inclusion level as compared to other SBH
diets. Dietary treatments did not have adverse effect on the haematology of
growing pigs. The overall
performance of pigs fed the soybean hull based diets was not inferior to that
of pigs fed the control diet (0% SBH).
In experiment 2, the 20% and
30% SBH diets supported superior final body weight gain and growth rate, better
feed conversion ratio, higher protein efficiency ratio, average daily protein
intake and feed intake than the control diets(P<0.05). Inclusion of SBH in
the diets reduced significantly (P<0.05) the cost of feed per kg weight
gain, especially at the 30% SBH inclusion level. Pigs fed the control diets had
comparable packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), red blood
cell counts (RBC) ,white blood cell counts (WBC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin
concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular
volume (MCV) values with the groups on SBH diets. While dietary levels of SBH
did not exert significant(P>0.05) influence on body length, height at
withers, lung weight, liver weight, spleen and pancreas weight; the heart girth
circumference, heart weight, kidney weight, live body weight, and dressed
carcass weight were all significantly (P<0.05) affected by the dietary
levels of SBH. The dressing percentage, relative weights of lungs, liver and spleen were
also influenced significantly (P<0.05) by the dietary levels of SBH, while
the relative weights of heart and kidney were not significantly (P>0.05)
affected. It was concluded that toasted soybean hull can be included in the
diet of weaner pigs at 20% level and in the diet of grower pigs at 30% level
without adverse effects on the performance, haematological values, carcass and
organ weights of the animals.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The
scarcity of conventional feeds has hindered the growth of the livestock
industry in Nigeria.
The food deficit problem is
indeed more serious with protein supply when compared with the availability of
calories. Shortage of protein, particularly those of animal origin is prevalent
in most parts of Africa where it is estimated that on the average 10g of animal
protein is consumed per day compared to a recommended daily intake of 35g
(ILCA, 1980, FAO, 1997). According to Obioha (1992) and Ogini (2001), the level
of consumption of meat and animal protein in Nigeria is estimated at about 8g per
caput per day, about 20g less than the minimum requirement by the National
Research Council of the United States of America. Therefore, there is the need,
to increase the production of such domestic animals as pigs and poultry which
are conventional sources of animal protein. Pig production in particular
represents one of the fastest ways of increasing animal protein, since pigs
grow at a faster rate and are highly more prolific than cattle, sheep and
goats. In growth rate pig
Apart from the poultry industry, pig farming has the
highest quick returns on investment. The high cost of the conventional
feedstuff most especially the protein supplement, necessitated the quest for
locally available alternatives that can substitute for the conventional
feedstuffs economically by reducing feeding cost, thereby making the pig
enterprise a more profitable one (EL-Sabben et al., 1970;Fontenot,1971).
The alternative cheap and available feedstuff to be considered in this study is
Soy bean hull. Soybean hulls referred to as soy hull, soybean mill-run or
soybean flakes are by-products of soybean milling industry which do not attract
competition between man and animals. Soybean hull is readily available when
compared to other alternative sources of feed ingredient. Soybean hull has
estimated feeding value of 74-80% of that of maize when included in moderate to
high quantity in maize based diets (Esonu, 1998). It contains high level of
potentially digestible fibre and can replace some or all grains in the diets of
ruminants (Van Soest, 1985). Soybean hull contains 22.75% crude
1.1 Aim
and Objectives
This
study is therefore; aimed at evaluating the growth
performance, cost implication, blood parameters and carcass characteristics of
weaner and grower pigs fed graded levels of soybean hull based diets......
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