Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research
Project Number: 3020-43440-002-036-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: May 15, 2024
End Date: May 31, 2026
Objective:
The objectives of this project is to determine the concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy and the standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids in sorghum grain, sorghum-DDGS and these ingredient with the developed microflora ingredient product and to determine the growth performance and carcass characteristics of grow-finish pigs fed sorghum and sorghum-DDGS based diets with our without the developed microflora ingredient product.
Approach:
To achieve objectives, feeding trials will be used to determine the concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy in growing swine. Pigs will be housed in metabolic crates for a 5-day adaptation period followed by a 5-day collection period and will be provided feed (including a marker) at 2.5 times the estimated requirement for maintenance energy. Fecal collections will be initiated the first time after d 6 that the marker appears in the feces and ceased the first time after d 10 that the marker appeared in the feces. A preservative will be added to the urine collection buckets, which will be covered. Buckets will be emptied twice daily after the total volume of urine has been recorded and a 20% subsample will be collected. Additionally, experiments with cannulated pigs will be conducted where feedFeed will be provided daily in two meals at 0800 and 1600 h and water will be provided ad libitum throughout the duration of the experiment. Before the beginning of each period, the body weight of the pigs will be recorded and used to calculate feed provisions. Each period will last 7 d with an initial 5 d adaptation period to the diets and 2d ileal collection period. Each collection will last 8h where the ileal digesta will be collected in bags attached to the canula of the animal and changed when full or every 15 minutes and immediately stored at -20C. Ileal digesta will be mixed within pig after the end of each period and a subsample will be collected, dried, and finely ground prior analysis. To determine impact on carcass characteristics, 350 pigs will be feed one of five treatments and weighed each week.
