The effect of sorghum endosperm type on performance of growing-finishing swine and digestibility of selected nutrients measured at the terminal ileum and in the feces

Abstract

Pig performance and nutrient digestibility were used to determine the effect of endosperm type on utilization of sorghum by growing-finishing pigs. Five sorghums with different endosperm types were grown in the same field (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Lubbock) under irrigation with the same fertilizer application rate. Sorghums grown were: Redlan B 378, nonwaxy-nonyell (NW-NY); Redlan B 413, waxy-nonyellow (W-NY); NSA 954, waxy-yellow (W-Y); A 413 x NSA 954, waxy-heteroyellow (W-HY); and A 378 x NSA 954, heterowaxy-heteroyellow (HW-HY). Prior to feeding the sorghums were cleaned with a scalper-cleaner and sampled for chemical analyses. Results of chemical analyses indicated that the grains were similar in chemical composition and contained 11.55 to 12.59% protein (N x 6.25) and .21 to .24% lysine on a dry matter basis. Performance of 40 individually fed growing-finishing pigs was used to determine the effect of endosperm type on energy utilization of sorghum. Sorghum-soybean meal grower (16% protein) and finisher (14%) diets were formulated using 9% crude protein for sorghum and 44% for soybean meal. Pigs were fed the grower diet from approximately 25 to 58 kg, then changed to the finisher diet to complete the 73-day feeding period. For the entire test period and during both the growing and finishing phases, pigs fed the waxy and teterowaxy sorghum tended to gain faster and more efficiently than those fed the nonwaxy sorghum. During the finishing phase, gains on the nonwaxy sorghum were lower (P<.10) than those supported by the waxy and heterowaxy grains. Ober the entire test period average daily gains (kg/day) for the NW-NY, W-NY, W-Y, W-HY and HW-HY were .76, .84, .83, .84 and .83, respectively. Feed efficiency (g gain/kg feed) closely paralleled gain with the WNY being most desirable (320) and the NW-NY least desirable (298). The W-Y (304), W-HY (308) and HW-HY (308) sorghums were intermediate. Two groups of three littermate barrows (32 kg), fitted with simple T-cannulas in the terminal ileum, were used to determine the digestibility of nitrogen, selected amino acids, energy and starch at the terminal ileum and over the entire gastrointestinal tract for three sorghums...