SELECTION PREFERENCE OF STARTER PIGS FED CANOLA MEAL AND SOYBEAN MEAL SUPPLEMENTED DIETS

Abstract

Selection preferences of starter pigs (4–5 wk old) fed diets supplemented with soybean meal (SBM) and canola meal (CM) with or without added flavor were studied in four experiments. In exp. 1, starter pigs were offered a choice between a SBM control diet and one of four isonitrogenous, isoenergetic CM supplemented diets containing either 5, 10, 15 or 20% CM. From 5 to 9 wk of age, pigs consumed two and one-half to seven times more SBM control diet than diets containing 5–20% CM, respectively. In exp. 2, the influence of supplementary monosodium glutamate (0.15%), dextrose (10%) and corn oil (4 and 5%) on the consumption of diets in which CM replaced 50–100% of the protein supplied by SBM was studied. No significant differences in feed intake or pig performance were attributed to the addition of these additives to the CM diets. In experiments three and four, the effect of flavor additives (Pig Krave and Hy Sugr ADE) on the palatability of CM supplemented diets was determined. In exp. 3, feed intake of pigs fed diets containing 100% CM with added flavors was significantly greater than that of pigs fed the 100% CM nonflavored diets. In exp. 4, a single stimulus trial, pigs consumed more (P < 0.001) of the flavored CM diets than the nonflavored diets. The improved feed intake of flavored CM supplemented diets decreased as the level of dietary CM increased. Key words: Palatability, flavor additives, starter pigs, canola meal, soybean meal