Department of Animal Science

 

Date of this Version

1986

Comments

Published in JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE 63 (1986), pp. 831-837. Copyright © 1986 American Society of Animal Science. Used by permission.

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted with 288 weanling pigs to determine the effects of sorbic acid (SA) added to dry (DSG), high moisture (HMSG) or reconstituted (RSG) sorghum grain diets on gains and feed conversion. Dietary treatments for Exp. 1 were: DSG with and without .1% SA; HMSG with .1% SA and RSG with .1% SA. The DSG diets were fed ad libitum. The HMSG and RSG diets were mixed fresh from oxygen-limiting storage every 3 and 7 d and were also fed ad libitum. Pigs fed RSG diets consumed more feed than those fed HMSG diets (P<.08). Performance was similar between pigs fed DSG diets without or with SA. Dietary treatments for Exp. 2 and 3 consisted of sorghum grains reconstituted to two moisture contents (MC), with additions of either 0, .05 or .I% SA. The diets were mixed fresh from oxygen-limiting storage every 7 d and fed ad libitum. In Exp. 2 and 3, pigs fed the higher MC diets were more efficient in feed conversion (P<.03) than those fed the lower MC diets. In Exp. 3, a quadratic response (P<.04) for average daily gain and average daily feed intake was observed for the main effect of SA. Feed efficiency improved (P<.05) in a linear fashion as SA levels were increased in the diets. The results of these experiments indicate that weanling pigs may be fed HMSG or RSG without adverse effects on pig performance. Inconsistencies in pig response to SA were observed. Feed temperature measurements indicated that SA prevented heat production in the RSG diets for at least 10 d after removal from oxygen-limiting storage, while diets without SA became moldy within 5 d.

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