The nutrition of the bacon pig: II. The influence of high-protein intake on protein and mineral metabolism

Abstract

An investigation has been made, by the method of balance trials, of the utilization of food protein, at different levels of protein intake, by bacon pigs throughout the period of growth from weaning to slaughter. Information has also been secured relating to the retention of lime, phosphoric acid and chlorine. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The young pigs after weaning were able to digest their food with as high an efficiency as was displayed in the later stages of growth. The extra protein in the high-protein rations had little or no effect on the extent to which the food was digested. (2) No evidence was secured at any stage of the trials suggesting the presence of protein in the urine of the pigs subsisting on the high-protein diet. (3) The gilts showed a consistently higher rate of nitrogen retention than their brother-hogs. This behaviour was manifested even when the protein supply in the gilt's ration was lower than that in the ration of the hog with which it was compared. This more efficient utilization of food protein by the gilts is held to explain the tendency of gilts to give somewhat leaner carcasses than hogs. (4) Nitrogen retention from the high-protein diet was no higher than from the normal-protein diet, a rinding suggesting that the amount of protein in the normal rations is sufficient to meet the demands for the quick growth required by modern standards of bacon production.