Influence of fat level and calorie:protein ratio on performance and carcass composition of young pigs

Abstract

One hundred forty pigs averaging 28 pounds were fed a corn-soybean meal diet to study the influence of fat level and calorie:protein (C:P) ratio on the performance and carcass composition. With a constant C:P ratio, fat level made no significant difference on daily gains, but feed efficiency improved as fat level increased. Increasing fat without adjusting the C:P ratio decreased daily gain and metabolizable energy per unit of gain increased. With a constant C:P ratio, feeding 6 or 12% fat did not influence fat content of the carcass. However, feeding 12% added fat without adjusting the C:P ratio markedly increased fat content of the carcass.