Performance of Crossbred Gilts Fed on Diets with Higher Levels of Fat and Fibre through Addition of Rice Bran

Soren, N. M.; Bhar, R.; Chhabra, A. K.; Mandal, A. B.

doi:2003.16.11.1650

Article

Animal Breeding and Genetics

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2003;16(11): 1650-1655.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2003.1650 Published online January 1, 2003.

Performance of Crossbred Gilts Fed on Diets with Higher Levels of Fat and Fibre through Addition of Rice Bran

N. M. Soren, R. Bhar, A. K. Chhabra, A. B. Mandal

Abstract

Crossbred gilts (n=54) of about 26.38 0.85 kg body weight and 25 weeks of age were randomly divided into 18 groups of 3 animals each. Three dietary treatments viz., T1, T2 and T3 were formulated. The treatment T1 containing maize grain (35%) and wheat bran (47%) along with soybean meal and fish meals served as control diet. Rice bran (RB) was selected as a single source of fat (13.02%) and fibre (17.12%), which was gradually increased in diets T2 (41%) and T3 (82%) replacing maize grain and wheat bran of T1 at 50% and 100% in the diets T2 and T3, respectively. The fat and fibre levels of the diets were thus 3.46 and 5.24, 9.31and 9.69 and 11.61and 13.26% in T1, T2 and T3, respectively. All the diets, however, contained almost similar concentration of CP (18.35 0.29%). Each dietary treatment was offered to six replicated groups of 3 piglets in following completely randomized design and feeding was continued for 112 days during the growing phase. Growth, feed utilization, reproductive performance, nutrient utilization and different blood biochemical parameters were studied. Growth rate, feed intake and feed conversion were lower (p<0.01) in T3 in comparison to T1 or T2. Digestibility of all the nutrients except EE was reduced significantly (p<0.01) in T3. Serum glucose level decreased (p<0.01), whereas the urea and cholesterol concentration in the blood increased (p<0.01) in T3. The duration of estrus of pigs fed diet containing 82% RB (T3) was highly variable within the group, but all the groups showed statistically similar duration of estrous. Feed cost per unit gain was found to be comparable between control (T1) and T2 group. The results indicated that RB can be included up to 41% in swine diets replacing 50% of maize and wheat bran. Higher concentrations of ether extract and fibre beyond 9.31 and 9.69% in diet had detrimental effect on growth, nutrient utilization and reproductive performance.

Keywords: Gilts; Rice Bran; Performance; Estrous; Blood Biochemical