EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE AND DIETARY COPPER ON GROWTH AND LIPID METABOLISM IN PIGS. I. GROWTH, CARCASS QUALITY, AND TISSUE COPPER LEVELS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to compare the effects of 0 or 250 ppm supplemental dietary copper added to a barley–herring meal diet on growth, carcass quality, and tissue copper levels in pigs kept under different environmental conditions. The pigs were kept during winter either outside (−14.5 C), with unheated colony houses for shelter (−0.4 C), or in a heated barn (15 C). Growth data indicated that the performance of pigs kept in the heated barn was superior (P < 0.01) to that of pigs kept outside. Dietary copper appeared to have some growth-promoting effect under both types of environment, but the overall effect was not significant (P < 0.05). There were significant (P < 0.001) increases in the copper content of the liver and kidney due to dietary copper with a trend toward lower liver copper levels in these organs in pigs kept under outside conditions. There was an improvement in carcass quality associated with copper supplementation with no interaction between diet and environment.