Do breeds of pig differ in the efficiency with which they use a limiting protein supply?

Abstract

An experiment was designed to test the prediction that two genetically-very-different kinds of pigs would retain the same amounts of protein in their bodies when given the same allowances of the same feed for the same period of time, when these allowances were limiting for both. An allowance of 33·957 kg of a feed with 12·76 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) and 189 g crude protein (N × 6·25)/kg feed was given to Large White × Landrace (LW ×) and Chinese Meishan (CM) female pigs over three different periods of time: (1) ad lib. (AL) with the time taken by individual pigs to consume the allowance being a variable, (2) over a period of 7 weeks (H) and (3) over a period of 9 weeks (L). In addition, in a fourth treatment, pigs of both breeds received the same allowance but supplemented with starch also over a period of 7 weeks (HS). The performance of the pigs on treatment AL was affected by pig breed, with CM pigs gaining protein at a slower, and lipid at a faster, rate than LW × pigs. On treatments L, H and HS the average amounts of protein retained were 2·693 and 2·655 kg for the LW × (n 15) and CM (n 15) pigs respectively (SED 0·106 kg). There was a statistical indication that the LW × pigs may have been more efficient on L, and less efficient on HS, than the CM pigs but we have been unable to propose any biological reason for such an effect, if it was in fact a real one. Thus, the efficiency with which ideal protein was utilized was close to being constant, and apparently at its maximum, for the two breeds. However, although CM pigs had the same protein gain, and the same live weights, on the same feed allowances as the LW × pigs, they gained significantly more lipid. This was attributed in part to their digesting their feed better and in part to their having a lower energy requirement for maintenance through a lower level of physical activity. Given that these two very different kinds of pigs use limiting protein with the same efficiency, it is suggested that it is safe to make the assumption in models of pig growth that the material efficiency of using limiting protein is constant across genotypes of pig.