Four experiments were conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys requirement of pigs (Sus scrofa) from 7 to 14 kg. In Exp. 1, 294 pigs (6.8 kg BW) were used in a 28-d growth trial with 7 pigs per pen and 7 pens per treatment. Treatment diets were fed from d 0 to 14, and a common diet was fed from d 14 to 28. The 6 SID Lys levels tested were 1.15, 1.23, 1.30, 1.38, 1.45, and 1.53%. The diets were corn- and soybean-meal [Zea mays L. and Glycine max (L.) Merr.] based, with 10% spray-dried whey, 4.5% fish meal, and contained 3.37 Mcal of ME/kg. From d 0 to 14, ADG increased (quadratic, P < 0.001) as SID Lys increased from 1.15 to 1.30% with no further increase at greater levels. Gain:feed increased (linear, P < 0.001) with increasing SID Lys. Experiments 2 to 4 were 14-d growth trials with diets containing 1.22, 1.32, 1.42, 1.52, or 1.62% SID Lys. Diets were corn- and soybean-meal based with 3.45 Mcal of ME/kg. Soybean meal and lactose were constant in all diets at 30 and 7% of the diet, respectively. In Exp. 2, 840 pigs (7.6 kg BW) were used, with 24 pigs per pen and 7 pens per treatment. Increasing SID Lys from 1.22 to 1.42% increased (quadratic, P < 0.01) ADG and G:F with no further improvement observed in pigs fed the 1.52 or 1.62% SID Lys diets during d 0 to 14. In Exp. 3, 1,260 pigs (8.5 kg BW) were used with 42 pigs per feeder (2 pens per feeder) and 6 feeders per treatment. Increasing dietary Lys increased (quadratic, P < 0.02) ADG and G:F with the greatest response observed as SID Lys increased from 1.22 to 1.32% and, then, slight improvements with 1.42 and 1.52% during d 0 to 14. In Exp. 4, 770 pigs (7.4 kg BW) were used with 22 pigs per pen and 7 pens per treatment. Increasing SID Lys increased (quadratic, P = 0.05) ADG with pigs fed 1.32 and 1.42% SID Lys diets having the greatest BW gains during d 0 to 14. Increased SID Lys decreased (linear, P < 0.001) ADFI and increased (linear, P < 0.001; quadratic, P = 0.02) G:F. In conclusion, results of these experiments indicate that the 1998 NRC Lys recommendations (e.g., 1.19% SID Lys for 5 to 10 kg pigs) are less than required for optimal growth for 7 to 14 kg pigs. One-slope straight broken-line analysis indicated that the SID Lys requirement for optimal growth was at least 1.30% for ADG and 1.37% for G:F, or at least 3.86 and 4.18 g SID Lys/Mcal ME, respectively. Quadratic broken-line analysis indicated that the SID Lys requirement for optimal growth was at least 1.37% for ADG and 1.54% for G:F, or at least 4.19 and 4.92 g SID Lys/Mcal ME, respectively.

Five experiments were conducted to evaluate replacing fish meal, meat and bone meal, and poultry byproduct meal with crystalline AA for 7- to 12-kg pigs. In all experiments, pigs (PIC TR4 × 1050) were fed a common diet for 3 d postweaning, treatment diets for 14 d (d 0 to 14), and, again, a common diet for 14 d (d 14 to 28). Treatment diets were corn-soybean meal based and formulated to contain 1.30% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys. Experiment 1 evaluated replacing dietary fish meal with crystalline AA. For the 6 treatments, crystalline Lys, Met, Thr, Trp, Ile, Val, Gln, and Gly all increased to maintain minimum AA ratios as fish meal decreased (4.50, 3.60, 2.70, 1.80, and 0.90 to 0.00%). There was no difference in ADG, ADFI, or G:F among treatments, validating a low-CP, AA-fortified diet for subsequent experiments. Experiment 2 evaluated deleting crystalline AA from a low-CP, AA-fortified diet with 6 treatments: 1) a positive control similar to the diet validated in Exp. 1, 2) positive control with l-Ile deleted, 3) positive control with l-Trp deleted, 4) positive control with l-Val deleted, 5) positive control with l-Gln and l-Gly deleted, and 6) positive control with l-Ile, l-Trp, l-Val, l-Gln, and l-Gly deleted (NC). Pigs fed the positive control or Ile deleted diet had improved (P < 0.05) ADG and ADFI during d 0 to 14 compared with pigs fed diets with l-Trp or l-Val deleted or NC. Experiment 3 evaluated 6 treatments with total Lys:CP of 6.79, 6.92, 7.06, 7.20, 7.35, and 7.51%. Fish meal was adjusted as a source of dispensable N to achieve the target Lys:CP. There were no differences in growth performance among pigs fed different Lys:CP diets. Experiment 4 evaluated increasing SID Val:Lys with Val at 57.4, 59.9, 62.3, 64.7, 67.2, and 69.6% of Lys. Average daily gain and ADFI increased (quadratic, P < 0.01) and G:F improved (linear, P = 0.02) during d 0 to 14 as Val:Lys increased from 57.4 to 64.7%. Experiment 5 was a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments with main effects of low or high level of crystalline AA and 3 animal protein sources (fish meal, meat and bone meal, or poultry byproduct meal). Low- and high-crystalline AA diets contained 4.5 or 1% fish meal, 6 or 1.2% meat and bone meal, and 6 or 1% poultry byproduct meal, respectively. No AA × protein source interactions were observed. From d 0 to 14, no differences in growth performance among protein sources was found, whereas increasing crystalline AA improved (P = 0.04) ADG. In conclusion, crystalline AA can replace fish meal, meat and bone meal, and poultry byproduct meal when balanced for SID AA ratios of Met and Cys:Lys (58%), Thr:Lys (62%), Trp:Lys (16.5%), Val:Lys (65%), and Ile:Lys (52%).

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of pelleting, diet type (fat and fiber level), and withdrawal of dietary fiber and fat before marketing on growth performance, carcass yield, and carcass fat iodine value (IV) of finishing pigs. Each experiment used 288 pigs (initially 49.6 and 48.5 kg BW, respectively) with 6 dietary treatments arranged as 2 × 3 factorials. In Exp. 1, main effects were diet form (meal vs. pellet) and diet regimen. Diet regimens were 1) a low-fiber, low-fat (corn-soybean meal) diet from d 0 to 81, 2) a high-fiber, high-fat (30% dried distillers grains with solubles [DDGS] and 19% wheat middlings [midds]) diet from d 0 to 64 followed by the low-fiber, low-fat diet from d 64 to 81 (fiber and fat withdrawal), and 3) the high-fiber, high-fat diet fed from d 0 to 81.

A total of 288 pigs (PIC 327 Ã-1050, initially 107.0 lb BW) were used in an 87-d trial to determine the effects of diet form and corn oil on growth performance, carcass yield, and iodine value (IV) of growingfinishing pigs. Treatments were arranged in a 2 Ã-3 factorial with the main effects of diet form and oil source. The 2 diet forms were meal or pellet. The 3 dietary formulations were: (1) corn-soybean mealâ€"based control, (2) control with 30% dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and 19% wheat middlings, and (3) control with 3% corn oil. No diet form Ã-diet formulation interactions were observed for growth performance, HCW, or carcass yield. Overall (d 0 to 87), pigs fed pelleted diets had increased (P < 0.05) ADG, decreased (P < 0.05) ADFI, and improved (P < 0.05) F/G compared with pigs fed meal diets. Diet form did not influence HCW or carcass yield. Pigs fed diets containing DDGS and wheat middlings had decreased (P < 0.05) ADG compared with pigs fed the control or corn oil diets. Feeding the corn oil diet resulted in decreased (P < 0.05) ADFI compared with pigs fed the diet with DDGS and wheat middlings, with pigs fed the control diet intermediate. Feed efficiency followed dietary energy, with pigs fed the corn oil diet having the best (P < 0.05) F/G, pigs fed DDGS and wheat middlings diet having the worst, and pigs fed the control intermediate. Pigs fed the diet with DDGS and wheat middlings had decreased (P < 0.05) HCW and carcass yield compared with pigs fed the control or corn oil treatments. No interaction was detected between diet form and oil source for belly fat IV. Pigs fed pelleted diets had increased (P < 0.05) belly fat IV compared with those fed meal diets, regardless of diet formulation. Belly fat IV was greatest (P < 0.05) for pigs fed DDGS and wheat middlings, lowest for pigs fed the control, and intermediate for pigs fed the corn oil diets. An interactive effect between diet form and oil source was detected (P < 0.05) for shoulder fat IV, caused by an increase in shoulder fat IV from feeding pelleted diets for the control or corn oil treatments. Thus, with the exception of the lack of increase in IV in pigs fed the pelleted DDGS and wheat middlings diet, feeding pelleted diets increased carcass fat IV. Furthermore, we found no evidence that the source of fat (endogenous vs. supplemental) in pelleted diets affected the IV response to pelleting.

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