The Feeding Value of Hatchery Waste Meal in the Diets of Early-Weaned Piglets.

Abstract

In an experiment designed to investigate the feeding value of hatchery waste meal (HWM) in the diets of early-weaned piglets, HWM was included in the experimental diets at 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30%. Thirty piglets weaned at 3 weeks were used for the experiment, which lasted for a period of 8 weeks in a complete randomized design. The results showed that pigs fed with the various treatments had comparable (P>0.05) feed to gain ratio. However, there was a gradual decrease in weight gain, nitrogen intake and nitrogen digestibility as the levels of HWM in the diets increased. The feed intake, weight gain, nitrogen intake and digestibility of the piglets fed on the control diet was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those fed on the other levels of the HWM. The feed cost analysis revealed a gradual decrease in feed cost as the levels of theHWMincreased in the diets. The early-weaned piglets can tolerate up to 22.5%HWMin their diets.

Keywords: Early-weaned piglets, hatchery waste meal, feeding value, digestibility.