Wheat shorts in diets of gestating swine.
Sixty-four gilts were assigned to be bred at first or third observed estrus and fed gestation diets of pelleted wheat shorts with a free choice mineral-vitamin supplement or fortified corn-soybean meal. Only the dietary effects are included in this report. The gilts were fed their respective diets starting at 25 days after insemination. The experiment continued through three gestation-lactation cycles. Females fed the wheat shorts received less digestible energy during gestation and weighed less at day 109 of gestation and days 1, 7 and 21 of lactation in each of the three gestation-lactation periods. Females fed wheat shorts had lighter pigs at birth, weaned more pigs per litter in each parity and returned to estrus more slowly after weaning than females fed a corn-soybean meal diet. Results of a metabolism trial conducted with 12 barrows revealed that wheat shorts contained approximately 2.93 kcal digestible energy/kg dry matter and had an apparent protein digestibility of 72%, compared with values of 4.0 kcal and 86%, respectively, for the corn-soybean meal diets.
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D004063:Digestion; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*; D014908:Triticum / Q000378:metabolism*