Artificial rearing of pigs

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Abstract
1. The time course of digestion of milk protein was studied in the 28-d-old pig given a test meal of homogenized cow's milk after a preliminary starvation period.2. The milk was found to clot in the stomach 15–30 min after the meal. The soluble or ‘whey’ fraction of the stomach contents rapidly passed into the small intestine. Most of the clotted digesta had also left the stomach z h after the meal.3. The distribution of digesta was studied in six equal segments of the small intestine. In general, there were no significant increases in the amount of intestinal contents at any time after the meal when compared with those in starved pigs, suggesting that digestion of milk at this age is a very efficient process.4. Fractionation of the soluble digesta from the stomach and small intestine in Sephadex G-25 indicated that relatively little proteolysis occurred in the stomach, but in the small intestine digestion proceeded rapidly, producing a considerable increase in free amino acids in the mid-region.5. The level of proteolytic enzyme activity in the stomach wall was elevated at 15 min after the meal, but thereafter returned rapidly to the prefeeding levels. Increasing the level of feeding increased the enzyme activity of the digesta and stomach wall. The enzyme activity appeared to be mainly adsorbed by the stomach clot.6. The proteolytic enzyme activity in the pancreas was unaffected by the meal. However, the activity in the contents of the small intestine increased after the meal, reaching a maximum value at 45 min. Some accumulation of enzymes was found in the lower part of the small intestine, except in the region of the distal ileum where a marked decline in enzyme activity occurred. Increasing the level of feeding increased the proteolytic enzyme activity in the contents of the small intestine.7. The soluble marker polyethylene glycol was not entirely satisfactory as an indicator of the rate of passage of digesta. The concentration of the marker was found to be greater in the soluble stomach fraction than in the clot shortly after the milk had been ingested. The transit time of the marker from ingestion to the terminal ileum was 2–3 h.