Copper in diets for growing pigs

Abstract

SUMMARYTwenty-eight centres participated in two co-ordinated trials to obtain further evidence on responses of growing pigs (20–86 kg) to different levels of copper sulphate (CuSO4. 5H2O) supplementation, and on effect of lowering the amount of copper in the ‘finishing’ diet. The levels of copper supplied were 141, 232 and 276 mg Cu/kg diet in the ‘starting’ diet in trial 1 and 125, 200 and 250 in the ‘starting’ diets continuing or reducing to 125 mg Cu/kg diet in the ‘finishing’ diets in trial 2. The results varied to such an extent that no definite conclusion could be drawn, but there was a tendency to support rather than dispute the accumulated evidence in world literature that the most effective levels of copper supplementation are from 200 to 250 mg/kg diet throughout the growing period.