Growth Performance of Finishing Hogs Given Fermented Feedstuffs as Substitute to Commercial Feeds

Abstract

The study on the growth performance of finishing pigs given fermented feedstuffs as substitute to commercial feeds was conducted on February 2015 to March 2015. Specifically, it aimed to determine the gain in weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and feed cost to produce a unit gain in weight of finishing pigs given fermented feedstuffs as substitute to commercial feeds. A total of nine 120 days old pigs was distributed randomly into three treatments as follows: T0 100% commercial feeds (CF), T1 90% commercial feeds + 10% of fermented feedstuffs (FFS) and T2 80% commercial feeds + 20% of fermented feedstuffs. Statistical analysis revealed that there were no significant differences between treatment means in the initial weight and feed conversion ratio as fed basis. The overall mean for the initial weight at 120 days old and feed conversion ratio (as fed basis) were 61.31 kg and 3.67, respectively. Results revealed that substituting 10-20% of commercial feed allowance of finishing pigs with fermented feedstuffs had the higher final weights with means of 86.83kg and 84.73kg compared to the control pigs with a mean final weight of 82kg. Higher gains in weight were also observed from the pigs given fermented feedstuffs with mean ADGs of 0.78kg compared to the 0.69kg registered by the control pigs. Though the feed cost per kilogram gain in weight (Php) was not subjected to statistical analysis, results revealed that the highest feed cost was observed from the pigs given fermented feedstuffs.