Multiple amino acid supplementations to reduce dietary protein for pigs during early and late finisher periods under commercial conditions

Abstract

Background With the easy availability and competitive prices of crystalline amino acids (AAs), the reduction of dietary crude protein (CP) for pigs during early and late finisher periods is possible under commercial conditions. Two experiments were conducted to assess the growth efficiency of early and late‐finishing pigs fed with protein‐restricted diets supplemented with Lys, Met, Thr, Trp, Val, Ile and His. In Experiment 1, 840 early finishing pigs were allocated to four dietary treatments with CP levels designed at 150, 142, 134, and 126 g kg−1 diet. In Experiment 2, 768 late‐finishing pigs were allotted to four dietary treatments providing CP levels at 140, 130, 120, and 110 g kg−1 diet. Results In Experiment 1, the data showed that CP levels could be decreased from 150 to 126 g kg−1 without adversely affecting performance of early finishing pigs as no significant difference was observed for final bodyweight, average daily gain (ADG), feed to gain ratio (F:G), or average daily feed intake (ADFI). In Experiment 2, late‐finishing pigs consuming 120 g kg−1 CP tended to have the highest ADG and lowest F:G whereas those fed the 110 g kg−1 CP diet showed the opposite trend. Based on quadratic analysis, the optimum CP levels to maximize ADG and minimize F:G were 126 and 127 g kg−1, respectively. Conclusion These findings showed that dietary CP levels could be decreased to 126 g kg−1 for early finishing pigs while improved performance was noted in late‐finishing pigs consuming 120 g kg−1 CP. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.