Date Available

11-2-2012

Year of Publication

2012

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Agriculture

Department/School/Program

Animal Science

First Advisor

Dr. Merlin D. Lindemann

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of feeding diets with a 2009 and 2010 naturally-contaminated corn to weaning pigs. For both experiments three diets were blended to contain 100% 2010 naturally-contaminated corn (control), 50-50% blend of the 2009 naturally-contaminated corn and 2010 corn (Diet 2), and 100% 2009 naturally-contaminated corn (Diet 3). In Exp. 1, 24 crossbred pigs with an average body weight of 7.64 ± 0.70 kg were allotted to 4 replicates of 3 treatments with 2 pigs per pen, on the basis of gender, litter mate, and BW in a randomized complete block design. Fecal and urine samples were collected and dry matter, energy, and nitrogen apparent digestibility were determined. Dry matter, energy, and nitrogen digestibility were not affected by either Diet 3 or Diet 2 compared to the control diet. In Exp. 2, 30 crossbred pigs with an average body weight of 7.98 ± 1.15 kg were allotted to 3 replicates of 2 comparisons with 5 pigs per pen. Comparisons consisted of: 1) Control vs Diet 3, and 2) Control vs Diet 2. Two feeders were located in each pen containing one of the two diets. Feed preference and growth performance were determined. A preference for the feed containing 2010 corn feed was observed; pigs showed the ability to discriminate mycotoxin-contaminated feed (95.34 vs. 4.66%; P< 0.01). Nutrient digestibility was not affected by these diets, but a clear decrease in feed intake was observed in the pigs.

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