Growth and food intake curves for group-housed gilts and castrated male pigs

1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Andersen ◽  
B. Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Random Regression ◽  
Lower Growth ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Food Efficiency ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
The Difference

AbstractPolynomial models with random regression coefficients were used to describe cumulated food intake and gain as a function of number of days on test for gilts and castrated male pigs which were on test from 30 to 115 kg live weight. Growth rate and daily food intake were expressed as the derivative of the curves. The applied models allowed a separation of between and within animal variation. Confidence limits for average curves and prediction limits for individual curves were also obtained. A similar model was used to describe gain as a function of cumulated food intake. From this function food efficiency was obtained. The application of the results in stochastic simulation models is discussed.Growth rate and daily food intake had a more curvilinear progress for castrated males than for gilts. It was estimated that 98% of the castrated males and 96% of the gilts had a lower growth rate at day 80 than at day 50; 74% of the castrated males and 48% of the gilts had a lower daily food intake at day 100 than at day 80. On average food efficiency of gilts was higher than food efficiency of castrated males and the difference increased through the test period.

Daily gain, food intake and food efficiency in pigs during the growing period

1990 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kanis ◽  
W. J. Koops
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Restricted Feeding ◽  
Growing Period ◽  
Food Efficiency ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Predicted Values ◽  
Daily Gain

ABSTRACTThe non-linear model y = ae(−hW−c/W) was fitted to weekly calculated daily gain (DG), daily food intake (FI) and food efficiency (FE) of 653 barrows and gilts fed ad libitum or restrictedly during a growing period from 27 to 108 kg live weight. Where y was DG, FI or FE, W was live weight and a, b and c were parameters. The model fitted well to the expected course of the traits, with an accuracy similar to that of quadratic polynomials. Parameters for one trait could simply be derived from the parameters for the other two traits. For each trait, four basic patterns were distinguished, depending on the signs of b and c. Curves with a maximum (b > 0 and c > 0) occurred most frequently. In cases of curves with a maximum, the model could be reparameterized to a model with parameters having a simple biological meaning.Coefficients of determination in barrows averaged 0·29 for DG, 0·88 for FI and 0·45 for FE, whereas these values were somewhat lower in gilts. With ad libitum feeding, a DG curve with a maximum was fitted in proportionately 0·83 of the barrows and 0·61 of the gilts. The maximum DG was on average at live weights of 64 kg for barrows and 77 kg for gilts. A maximum in the FI curve was predicted in proportionately 0·60 of the barrows and 0·39 of the gilts. Curves for DG and FI in gilts were less curvilinear than in barrows. FE curves, with ad libitum feeding, had a maximum in proportionately 0·59 of the barrows and 0·52 of the gilts. This predicted maximum FE was, on average, before the start of the growing period. Gilts had a higher FE than barrows from 35 kg body weight onwards, and the difference increased with increasing live weight. Differences in FE between ad libitum and restricted feeding were small, with a tendency for animals fed at a restricted feeding level to be more efficient at the end of the growing period.Average FE curves and individual FI or DG curves were used for indirect prediction of individual DG or FI curves, respectively. The correlation between directly and indirectly predicted values of DG and FI at live weights of 30, 65 or 100 kg was about 0·7 in ad libitum fed barrows and gilts, and greater than 0·8 in pigs fed at a restricted level. This indicates that the model is suitable to predict and control the course of individual daily gain by influencing the course of food intake.

The effect of nutrition on the reproductive performance of first-litter sows 3. The response to graded increases in food intake during lactation

1986 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. King ◽  
A. C. Dunkin
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Nitrogen Balance ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Mating Interval ◽  
Linear Regressions

ABSTRACTSeventy-two animals were used in an experiment to study the response of first-litter sows to graded increases in daily food intake during a 28-day lactation. Six food intakes, ranging from 1·5 to 4·8 kg/day were compared. The results showed that both live-weight loss and backfat loss during lactation increased linearly as food intake decreased (P < 0·01).Subsequent ovulation rate was unaffected by food intake but both weaning to mating interval (Y,, days) and the proportion of sows exhibiting oestrus within 8 days of weaning (Y2)improve d linearly with increase in daily food intake during lactation (X, kg) (P < 0·01); the respective linear regressions being Y, = 39·0 - 6·26 and Y2 = 0·198A - 0·15. A sub-group of 24 gilts which were older at first conception (340·5 v. 213·5 days; P < 0·01) exhibited oestrus sooner after their first litters were weaned (12·8 v. 22·1 days; P < 0·05) than the remaining 48 younger animals.Nitrogen balance increased linearly with food intake (P < 0·01) but even at the highest food intake, nitrogen balance remained negative (−15·5 g N per day). Food intake had no effect on the growth rate of piglets to 3 weeks of age but in the 4th week of lactation there was a quadratic increase in piglet growth rate as sow food intake increased (P < 0·01).

scholarly journals The effects of environmental temperature on the growth and metabolism of pigs given different amounts of food

1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Fuller ◽  
A. W. Boyne
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
The Body ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
N Retention ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
The Mean

1. Twelve castrated male pigs were kept at each of three temperatures and given food at one of three levels of intake. The temperatures and daily food intakes (expressed as g/kg0.73) were 23° (80, 100, 120), 13° (100, 120, 140), 3–5° (120, 140, 160). Growth and nitrogen metabolism were measured during growth from 20 kglive weight until slaughter at gokg live weight, when the body contents of N and fat were estimated.2. Growth rate increased with each unit of daily food intake (I g/kg0.73 live weight) by 7.73 ± 0.74 g/d. This value did not vary significantly with temperature. Daily growth rate was depressed by 17.8 ± 2.3 g for each I° fall of temperature.3. Daily N retention estimated by the balance method exceeded by 2.59 g/d that estimated by the comparative slaughter technique. Both results led to the same conclusion, which echoed that found with growth rate, that there was no significant effect of temperature on the response of N retention to increasing food intake. Taking the mean of the two estimates, N retention at a constant food intake fell by 0.38±0.055 g/d for each I° fall of temperature.4. The N content of the ingesta-free carcass at slaughter fell with each increase in daily food intake by 0.007±0.002%, and the fat content rose correspondingly by 0.116±0.027%. These regressions did not vary significantly with temperature. When considered at a constant food intake, body composition did not alter significantly with temperature.

Multibreed comparisons of British cattle. Variation in body weight, growth rate and food intake

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Thiessen ◽  
Eva Hnizdo ◽  
D. A. G. Maxwell ◽  
D. Gibson ◽  
C. S. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Daily Weight Gain ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Breed Selection ◽  
Voluntary Food Intake

ABSTRACTA multibreed cattle experiment involving 25 British breeds was set up to study genetic variation between breeds and genetic inter-breed relationships for a wide spectrum of traits in order to examine the problems of between-breed testing and selection. The experimental design is described and results on between-breed variation are presented for four traits.All animals were housed indoors and from 12 weeks of age were given a single complete pelleted diet ad libitum through a system of Calan-Broadbent electronic gates. Females were mated to produce one purebred and three crossbred calves, which were reared to slaughter in order to measure the efficiency of the cow-calf unit of production.Results based on a total of 292 animals, with an average of 12 per breed, are presented for body weight, cumulated voluntary food intake, daily weight gain and daily food intake over the age range from 12 to 72 weeks. The 25 breed-mean curves for body weight and cumulated food intake displayed a remarkably uniform pattern of rankings at all ages and the rankings were very similar for both traits.The multibreed design used was effective in estimating between-breed variation as a proportion of total variation for the four traits examined. After approximately 1 year of age, the proportion of variation between breeds was approximately 0·70 for body weight and 0·60 for cumulated voluntary food intake. Changes in these traits could therefore be brought about more effectively by selection between breeds rather than within breeds. For average daily weight gain measured over 12-week intervals, between-breed selection was estimated to be most effective in the period of maximum growth rate between 6 and 9 months of age, when between-breed variation was 0·52 of the total. For average daily food intake, measured over 12-week intervals, between-breed selection was likely to be effective beyond 6 months of age, when the proportion of between-breed variation plateaued at 0·48.At all ages, the coefficient of genetic variation between breeds was approximately 0·14 for body weight and daily gain, and remarkably constant at approximately 0·12 for both daily and cumulated food intake. It is suggested that, for growth and intake traits, the genetic variances within and between breeds remain proportional to each other at all ages.

The effect of nutrition on the reproductive performance of first-litter sows 1. Feeding level during lactation, and between weaning and mating

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. King ◽  
I. H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Factorial Experiment ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Feeding Level ◽  
Lactation Length ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACTA factorial experiment was conducted with 80 first-litter sows and involved two levels of feeding during lactation (ad libitum or 2·0 kg/day), and two levels of feeding between weaning and mating (4·0 or 1·5 kg/day).Average lactation length was 32·2 days. Sows given 2·0 kg/day during lactation lost more backfat (6·3 v. 0·9 mm; P < 0·05) and more live weight (36·8 v. 9·1 kg; P < 0·05) during lactation than sows fed ad libitum and whose average daily food intake was 4·47 kg. Sows receiving 20 kg/day during lactation took longer to return to oestrus after weaning. Within 8 days of weaning more sows fed ad libitum during lactation ovulated (0·90 v. 0·40; x2 = 20·0; P < 0·001) and exhibited oestrus (0·78 v. 0·38; x2 = 12·8; P < 0·001) than sows whose food intake throughout lactation was restricted. Ovulation rate, subsequent litter size and embryonic mortality were not significantly affected by feeding level during lactation.Post-weaning feeding level did not affect the interval between weaning and oestrus. However, sows receiving 4·0 kg/day between weaning and mating had higher ovulation rates (14·8 v. 13·0; P < 0·05) and a greater litter size (10·0 v. 8·8; P < 0·1) at the subsequent farrowing.

Feeding Ecology of the Nocturnal Gecko Hemidactylus brookii in Ghana

1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Avery
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Daily Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe diet of Hemidactylus brookii captured at Legon, Ghana, during July was composed entirely of arthropods; Lepidoptera larvae and cockroaches formed 40% of the total weight of food. Daily food intake during the dry season estimated from production of excretory urates was equivalent to that of small diurnal lizards, and given by the relationship F = 20.9W0.51 where F = food consumption in mg dry weight per day and W = live weight in grams. Daily intake during the wet season was variable and often reduced.

Genetic variation and responses in reproductive performance of sows in lines selected for growth rate under restricted feeding

2006 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. H. Nguyen ◽  
C. P. McPhee ◽  
C. M. Wade
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Likelihood Method ◽  
Gestation Length ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Reproduction Traits

AbstractThe objective of this study was to examine genetic changes in reproduction traits in sows (total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), average piglet birth weight (ABW) and number of piglets weaned (NW), body weight prior to mating (MW), gestation length (GL) and daily food intake during lactation (DFI)) in lines of Large White pigs divergently selected over 4 years for high and low post-weaning growth rate on a restricted ration. Heritabilities and repeatabilities of the reproduction traits were also determined. The analyses were carried out on 913 litter records using average information-restricted maximum likelihood method applied to single trait animal models. Estimates of heritability for most traits were small, except for ABW (0·33) and MW (0·35). Estimates of repeatability were slightly higher than those of heritability for TNB, NBA and NW, but they were almost identical for ABW, MW, GL and DFI. After 4 years of selection, the high growth line sows had significantly heavier body weight prior to mating and produced significantly more piglets born alive with heavier average birth weight than the low line sows. There were, however, no statistical differences between the selected lines in TNB or NW. The lower food intake of high relative to low line sows during lactation was not significant, indicating that daily food intake differences found between grower pigs in the high and low lines (2·71 v. 2·76 kg/day, s.e.d. 0·024) on ad libitum feeding were not fully expressed in lactating sows. It is concluded that selection for growth rate on the restricted ration resulted in beneficial effects on important measures of reproductive performance of thea sows.

Selection for lean growth in pigs with a restricted feeding regime

1994 ◽  
Vol 1994 ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
M.K. Curran ◽  
N.D. Cameron ◽  
J.C. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Restricted Feeding ◽  
Correlated Responses ◽  
Large White ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Lean Growth ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Ad Libitum

Divergent selection lines for lean growth on a restricted feeding regime, in Large White and Landrace pigs, were established to complement the lean growth selection lines on ad-libitum feeding. This study estimated the direct and correlated responses after four generations of selection and the corresponding genetic and phenotypic parameters.The selection objective for lean growth on restricted or scale (LGS) feeding was to obtain equal correlated responses in growth rate and carcass lean content, measured in phenotypic s.d. The selection criterion included measurements of growth rate and ultrasonic backfat depth.Large White (LW) and Landrace (LR) boars and gilts were purchased from eight British nucleus herds and boars from national artificial insemination centres in 1982. Homozygous or heterozygous halothane positive pigs were not included in the experiment. The base populations consisted of 31 LW and 19 LR sires and 57 LW and 67 LR dams. Within each population, there were high and low selection lines with a control line, each consisting of 10 boars and 20 gilts, with a generation interval of 13.5 and 12 months for LW and LR pigs. Animals were performance tested in individual pens from 30±3 kg for a period of 84 days and fed a high energy (13.8 MJ DE/kg DM) and high protein (210 g/kg DM crude protein) pelleted ration. Daily food intake was equal to 0.75 g/g of the daily food intake for ad-libitum fed pigs and the total food intake was 134 kg for LW pigs and 150 kg for LR pigs. On average, 3 boars and 3 gilts were tested per litter. The total number of pigs tested per line and average inbreeding coefficients at generation four, by population are given below.

Selection for components of efficient lean growth rate in pigs 4. Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimates and correlated responses in performance test traits with ad-libitum feeding

1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. D. Cameron ◽  
M. K. Curran
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Food Conversion ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Lean Growth ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Genetic And Phenotypic Correlations ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Ad Libitum Feeding

AbstractGenetic and phenotypic parameters and correlated responses in performance test traits were estimated for populations of Large White (LW) and British Landrace (LR) pigs tested in Edinburgh and Wye respectively, to four generations of divergent selection for lean growth rate (LGA), lean food conversion (LFC) and daily food intake (DFI) with ad-libitum feeding.There were differences between the two populations in genetic parameters, as LW heritabilities for growth rate, daily food intake and backfat depths were higher and the correlation between growth rate and backfat was positive for LW, but negative for LR. However, heritabilities, genetic and phenotypic correlations were generally comparable between selection groups, within each population. Genetic and phenotypic correlations indicated that animals with high daily food intakes were faster growing, had positive residual food intakes (RFI), were fatter with higher food conversion ratios. RFI was highly correlated with daily food intake and food conversion ratio, but phenotypically independent of growth rate and backfat, as expected.Selection for LGA, in LW and LR populations, increased growth rate (54 and 101 g/day), but reduced backfat (−3·9 and −2·0 mm), food conversion ratio (−0·23 and −0·25) and total food intake (−11·8 and −12·6 kg). There was no change in daily food intake in LW pigs (−19 g/day), but daily food intake increased in the LR pigs (69 g/day). With selection for LFC in LW and LR populations, there was no response in groivth rate (9 and 9 g/day), but backfat (−4·1 and −2·1 mm), total (−6·6 and −11·8 kg) and daily food intake (−90 and −172 g) were reduced, as animals had lower food conversion ratios (−0·13 and −0·22). LW and LR pigs selected for DFI ate more food in total (6·8 and 5·9 kg) and on a daily basis (314 and 230 g), grew faster (94 and 51 g/day) and had higher food conversion ratios (0·12 and 0·13). Backfat was increased in LW pigs (3·7 mm), but not in the LR population.In general, efficiency of lean growth was improved by increasing groivth rate, with little change in daily food intake from selection for LGA, but was primarily due to reduced daily food intake with selection on LFC.

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