Multienzyme complex in rations containing whole rice bran for newly weaned piglets

Abstract

Context The feeding of pigs raised in an intensive system has been made, in general, with rations formulated using corn and soybean meal as the main ingredients. Brown rice bran, a by-product of the processing of rice grains for human consumption, presents itself as an alternative for total or partial replacement. Aims The objective of the present study was to observe the effects of including 10% of whole rice bran (WRB), adding 0.02% exogenous multienzyme complex (MC) and changing the levels of metabolisable energy and available phosphorus (ME.aP) together in rations for newly weaned piglets. Methods Digestibility and metabolisability of the rations, as well as zootechnical performance, were evaluated using 24 and 144 animals respectively, distributed in randomised blocks in time, with eight treatments, in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial scheme. Three repetitions were used in the metabolism essay, with one animal housed per cage, and six repetitions were made in the performance test, with three animals per stall, which was considered the experimental unit. Digestibility and metabolisability coefficients, weight gain and feed intake, as well as feed efficiency, were evaluated. Key results The results showed that the inclusion of WRB reduced the digestibility and metabolisability coefficients of the rations, while the addition of MC provided an improvement in these indexes. The performance test showed that the inclusion of WRB worsened (P < 0.05) the feed efficiency. Conclusions and implications The multienzyme complex improves the digestibility and metabolisability of experimental rations, although it does not influence the performance of piglets in the nursery phase.