Performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs fed barley-based diets supplemented with Linpro (extruded whole flaxseed and peas) or soybean meal

Abstract

Thacker, P. A., Racz, V. J. and Soita, H. W. 2004. Performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs fed barley-based diets supplemented with Linpro (extruded whole flaxseed and peas) or soybean meal Can. J. Anim. Sci. 84: 681-688. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of feeding graded levels of Linpro (a 50:50 combination of extruded full-fat flax seed and peas) on pig performance and carcass traits, particularly the fatty acid composition of backfat. Eighty crossbred pigs (Camborough 15 Line female × Canabred sire, Pig Improvement Canada Ltd., Airdrie, AB) weighing an average of 22.7 ± 2.2 kg were assigned on the basis of sex, weight and litter to one of five dietary treatments in a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement (treatment × sex). The experimental diets were based on barley and soybean meal and contained 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5 or 30% Linpro during the growing period (22.7-69.7 kg) and 0, 6, 12, 18 or 24% Linpro during the finishing period (69.7-111.1 kg). Digestibility coefficients for dry matter were not significantly affected by incorporation of Linpro in the diet. Digestibility coefficients for crude protein (P = 0.01) and gross energy (P = 0.04) exhibited a cubic effect due to Linpro incorporation with the highest digestibility coefficients observed for pigs fed 7.5% Linpro. Over the entire experimental period (22.7-111.1 kg), daily gain was affected both linearly (P = 0.02) and quadratically (P = 0.04) by Linpro inclusion. The most rapid gains were obtained by pigs fed 7.5% Linpro (6% in finisher), while pigs fed 30% Linpro (24% in finisher) gained weight the slowest. Feed intake was not significantly affected by Linpro inclusion, while feed conversion exhibited a quadratic effect (P = 0.02) with pigs fed the highest and lowest levels of Linpro showing the poorest feed conversion. Linpro inclusion, had no significant effects on carcass traits including slaughter weight, carcass weight, dressing percent, carcass value index, lean yield, loin fat or loin lean. Inclusion of 30% Linpro (24% in finisher) significantly (P < 0.05) increased the levels of linolenic acid in backfat and this increase could provide significant health benefits for consumers of pork. Linpro would appear to be an acceptable alternative to soybean meal as a protein supplement for use in growing-finishing swine diets and can be incorporated at levels as high as 22.5% in the grower period and 18% in the finisher period without detrimental affects on pig performance. Sci. 84: 681-688. L'expérience devait établir les conséquences de l'ingestion d'une quantité établie de Linpro (mélange à parts égales de graines de lin entières extrudées et de pois) sur le rendement des porcs et sur les paramètres de la carcasse, en particulier la teneur du gras dorsal en acides gras. Quatre-vingts sujets hybrides (femelles Camborough de lignée 15 × mâles Canabred, Pig Improvement Canada Ltd, Airdrie, Alberta) pesant en moyenne 22,7 ± 2,2 kg ont été répartis en fonction du sexe, du poids et de la portée entre cinq régimes dan...

Effect of Sunflower, Linseed and Soybean Meal in Pig Diet on Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile of Meat and Backfat, and Its Oxidative Stability

“…The highest content of n-6 fatty acids in both, muscle and backfat, observed in pigs fed diet with sunfl ower, and the highest content of n-3 fatty acids, as well as the lowest n-6/n-3 ratio in pigs fed the diet with added linseed, confi rms previous studies [3,8,19,30]. A number of studies have been conducted on fi nal pig fattening [28,[31][32][33][34][35]. Okanović et al (2010) [36] investigated the impact of diet with added linseed on content of n-3 fatty acids in pork, in pigs with average weight of 110 kg, as in the present study.…”

Effects of pork differentiation strategies in Canada on pig performance and carcass characteristics

“…Higher AFI with no impact on ADG can lead to higher feeding costs. However, this effect on AFI seems to disappear when flaxseed levels increase ≥15% (Thacker et al 2004;Juárez et al 2010). Including high levels of canola in the diet of pigs has also been reported to decrease AFI (Dugan et al 2001;Smit et al 2014;Woyengo et al 2014), with no effect (Dugan et al 2001) or a small decrease in ADG (Woyengo et al 2014).…”

“…Pig carcass merit traits usually include composition (yield of lean, fat, and bone), percentage of primal cuts, meat pH value, marbling score, and colour (Marcoux et al 2007;Ngapo and Gariépy 2008;Uttaro and Zawadski 2010). All these traits have been reported to be influenced by factors such as breed (Sellier 1976;Gispert et al 2007;Straadt et al 2013), diet (Dugan et al 2001;Thacker et al 2004;Caine et al 2007), slaughter weight (Martin et al 1980;Latorre et al 2004), and chilling regime (Jones et al 1988;Springer et al 2003;Juárez et al 2009). Understanding the potential impact of manipulating each factor, as well as their interactions, would allow the Canadian pork industry to develop differentiated value-added products for a highly competitive market.…”

Increasing omega-3 levels through dietary co-extruded flaxseed supplementation negatively affects pork palatability

“…However, the high oil content may cause feed handling and oxidative stability problems. Co-extruding flaxseed with field peas alleviates these problems (Thacker, Racz, & Soita, 2004), possibly due to the antioxidant capacity of peas (Nilsson, Stegmark, & Åkesson 2004) and increased nutrient digestibility of the co-extruded product (Htoo, Meng, Patience, Dugan, & Zijlstra, 2008). Adding flaxseed to corn-based diets, which are already high in unsaturated fatty acids, caused an increase in carcass fat softness (Romans, Johnson, Wulf, Libal, & Costello, 1995).…”