Performance of Neonatal Piglets Mechanically Fed Diets Containing Corn, Soybean Meal and Milk Protein

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Abstract
Neonatal pigs were reared artificially from 2 to 23 days of age to determine the dietary value of corn and soybean meal proteins and synthetic amino acids when used at various replacement levels for dried skim milk. The pigs were fed individually every 90 min by a mechanical feeder. The pigs were moved to a nursery at 23 days of age and all pigs were group fed the same diet to 51 or 65 days of age to evaluate subsequent performance. Average daily gain (ADG) and gain/feed (G/F) decreased as the percentage of milk protein in the diet decreased. The performance of pigs fed diets containing 25% or less milk protein as a percentage of the dietary protein from 2 to 23 days of age was severely depressed compared to pigs fed isonitrogenous diets containing 45% or more milk protein. Increasing the fat content of the diet increased the G/F of all treatment groups and the ADG of the pigs fed the diets high in milk protein. Mortality from 2 to 23 days of age averaged 2% for all the treatment groups. The digestibility coefficients for carbohydrate, nitrogen and ash increased with increasing percentages of milk protein in the diet. The digestibility of fat varied with the source and level of dietary fat. Serum urea nitrogen levels were greater for the diets containing 52% or more soybean meal and corn protein. The subsequent performance of the pigs from 23 to 51 or 65 days of age was severely depressed by the neonatal diets which contained 25% or less milk protein as a percentage of the dietary protein compared to the isonitrogenous neonatal diets containing 45% or more milk proteins. Copyright © 1978. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1978 by American Society of Animal Science.