Background: It is unknown whether pigs can detect deficiencies in multiple amino acids (AA) and consequently change their feed choice.
Objectives: We investigated whether pigs compensate for a diet deficient in three AA (Thr, Trp, and Val) by selecting multiple diets and whether this compensation is affected by the supplemented AA concentration.
Methods: Pair-housed 5-wk-old pigs (n = 96) were exposed to one of four treatments: 1) AA-adequate: offered a low-protein (LP) diet adequate in AA for growth (LP); 2) AA-deficient: offered LP diet deficient in Thr, Trp, and Val by 20% (LP); 3) Two-choice between LP and LP; and 4) Four-choice between LP and three diets supplemented with Thr, Trp, Val at +40% (n = 12 pens/treatment) from d0 to d21 (phase 1).
Current feed formulation and evaluation practices rely on static values for the nutritional value of feed ingredients and assume additivity. Hereby, the complex interplay among nutrients in the diet and the highly dynamic digestive processes are ignored. Nutrient digestion kinetics and diet × animal interactions should be acknowledged to improve future predictions of the nutritional value of complex diets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow protein (LP) diets may increase the occurrence of damaging behaviours, like tail biting, in pigs. We investigated the effect of supplementing a LP diet with indispensable amino acids (IAA) or environmental enrichment on tail biting. Undocked pigs (n = 48 groups of 12) received either a normal protein diet (NP), a LP, LP with supplemented IAA (LP), or LP diet with extra environmental enrichment (LP-E) during the starter, grower, and finisher phase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To improve our understanding of host and intestinal microbiome interaction, this research investigated the effects of a high-level zinc oxide in the diet as model intervention on the intestinal microbiome and small intestinal functionality in clinically healthy post-weaning piglets. In study 1, piglets received either a high concentration of zinc (Zn) as zinc oxide (ZnO, Zn, 2,690 mg/kg) or a low Zn concentration (100 mg/kg) in the diet during the post weaning period (d 14-23). The effects on the piglet's small intestinal microbiome and functionality of intestinal tissue were investigated.
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