Effect of dietary fibre affecting ad libitum feed intake and feeding behaviour of growing-finishing pigs fed a using single-spaced electronic feeders : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Animal Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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Date
2021
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Massey University
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Abstract
The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary fibre on the feeding behaviour of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 32 Duroc x (Large White x Landrace) pigs were used. The study consisted of 16 males and 16 females pigs. The initial liveweight was 22.4±2.2 kg for the male and 22.8±1.9kg for the female. Two pens of 8 females and two pens of 8 were used. The experiment was a 2 x 2 factorial design (2 finisher diets x two sexes), which lasted for ten weeks, and comprised of weeks 1-7 called the grower phase and weeks 8-10 called the finisher phase. The study consisted of two experimental groups (Group 1 and Group 2). The Group 1 pigs were fed the basal diet (13.5 MJ DE/kg + 0.65 g Lys / MJ DE) throughout the study, while the group 2 pigs were fed the basal diet during the growing phase then switched to the fibre-rich test diet (13.6 MJ DE/kg + 0.68 g Lys / MJ DE) during the finishing phase. All diets were pelleted. The test (6% and 24.6%) and basal diet (4.2% and 14.4%) had different CF and NDF levels. The pigs were fed using the Osborne™ electronic feeder. Feeding behaviour data recorded by the electronic feeders were the number of visits, feeding duration (min), feeding rate(g/min) and feed intake per visit (kg). Data cleaning techniques were used to improve the accuracy of the data. Data were transformed to meet the condition of normality and homogeneity of variance. Also, the data was sorted on an hourly basis to reflect the diurnal feeding variation and analysed using the proc mixed function of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary NC). Multiple comparisons were made using Fisher’s LSD method (P<0.05). The pigs fed the basal diet; the female pigs frequently visited the feeder more often but spent a shorter feeding time because they only ate smaller feed quantities (P<0.05). However, the male pigs visited the feeder less often but spent more time feeding because of the large quantity consumed (P<0.05). During their growing phase, all pigs fed the basal diet had an extended feeding time because of their frequent feeding visits than the finishing phase (P<0.05). However, finishing pigs (fed the basal diet) irrespective of their sex had a higher feeding rate and feed intake than growing pigs (P<0.05). The fibre-rich test diet changed the feeding behaviour pattern of the finishing pigs. Overall, finishing pigs fed the fibre-rich diet exhibited reduced hourly feed intake and feeding rate than pigs fed the standard (basal) compound diet (P<0.05). In contrast, the pigs fed the fibre-rich diet's hourly feeding duration and feeding visit was increased than the pigs fed the standard compound diet. Overall, this study concluded that sex, diet, and age influenced the hourly feeding behaviour of the pigs.
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Figure 6 is re-used with the publisher's permission.
Keywords
dietary fibre, feed intake, feeding rate, feeding duration, feeding visits, feeding behaviour
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