Impacts of Age, Genotype and Feeding Low-Protein Diets on the N-Balance Parameters of Fattening Pigs

Ilona Anna Geicsnek-Koltay, Zsuzsanna Benedek, Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai, Nikoletta Such, László Pál, László Wágner, Ádám Bartos, Ákos Kovács, Judit Poór and Károly Dublecz
Additional contact information
Ilona Anna Geicsnek-Koltay: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Zsuzsanna Benedek: Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai: Nagykanizsa University Center for Circular Economy, University of Pannonia, Zrínyi Miklós u. 18, 8800 Nagykanizsa, Hungary
Nikoletta Such: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
László Pál: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
László Wágner: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Ádám Bartos: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Ákos Kovács: Institute of Animal Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Judit Poór: Institute of Mathematics and Basics of Natural Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Károly Dublecz: Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Georgikon Campus, Deák Ferenc u. 16, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: The effects of feeding low-protein (LP) diets and the age and genotype of fattening pigs were evaluated in an N-balance trial. Sixty weaned piglets of two genotypes were allotted to three different diets. Besides the control diets for the crossbred Topigs 20 × DanBred Duroc (TD) and Hungarian Large White (HLW) pigs, two LP diets were fed containing 1.5 (T1.5) and 3% (T3) less dietary protein than the control. The LP diets were supplemented with crystalline lysine, threonine, tryptophan, and methionine to equalize their digestible amino acid contents. Starter diets were fed between 20–30, grower I between 30–40, grower II between 40–80 and finisher between 80–110 kg live weights. Pigs were kept in floor pens, with 10 animals per pen. In all phases, six pigs with similar live weight were placed into individual balance cages and in the frame of a seven-day long balance trial, the daily N-intake, fecal and urinary N-excretion were measured. From the data N-digestibility, the total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) and N-retention were calculated. All the investigated main factors, the genotype and age of pigs and the protein content of the diets had significant effects on the N-balance of fattening pigs. The determinacy of the factors depended on the investigated parameter. Fecal N-excretion and N-digestibility were steadier compared with the urinary N-exertion and TAN percentage. N-digestibility increased and the urinary N-excretion decreased when LP diets were fed. The urinary N-decreasing effect of LP diets was not linear. Compared with the control (19.6 gN/day), T1.5 treatment resulted in 14.5, treatment T3 in 12.4 g daily urinary N-excretion. The TAN and the N-retention of HLW pigs were more favorable than those of TD pigs. Based on our results, it can be concluded that the accuracy of the nitrogen and TAN excretion values of pigs, used in the calculation of the national NH 3 inventories, could be improved if the genotype, the more detailed age categories and the different protein levels of feeds are considered.

Keywords: fattening pig; nitrogen balance; low protein diets; age; genotype (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/1/94/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/1/94/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:94-:d:722189

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().