Effects of rye silage on growth performance, blood characteristics, and carcass quality in finishing pigs

This experiment was conducted to evaluate effects of various periods of rye silage feeding on the growth performance, blood characteristics, and carcass quality of finishing pigs. A total of sixteen [(Landracex YorkshirexDuroc)] pigs (90.26 kg in average initial body weight) were tested in individual cages for a 30 day period. Dietary treatments included 1) CON (basal diet), 2) S10 (basal diet for 20 days and 3% rye silage for 10 days) 3) S20 (basal diet for 10 days and 3% rye silage for 20 days) and 4) S30 (3% rye silage for 30 days). There were no significant differences in the ADG and gain/feed ratio among the treatments (p>0.05), however the ADFI was higher in pigs fed the CON diet than with pigs fed diets with rye silage (p<0.05). The DM digestibility was higher with the S20 diet than with the S30 diet (p<0.05). With regard to blood characteristics, pigs fed rye silage had a significantly reduced cortisol concentration compared to pigs fed the CON diet (p<0.05). The backfat thickness was higher with the CON diet than with the S20 or S30 diets (p<0.05). Regarding the fatty acid contents of the leans, the C18:0 and total SFA were significantly higher with the CON diet than with the other diets (p<0.05). However, the C18:ln9, total MUFA and UFA/SFA levels were significantly lower with the CON diet than the other diets (p<0.05). Regarding the fatty acid contents of fat, the levels of C18:ln9 and MUFA were similar with the S20 and S30 diets, however, these levels were higher than with the CON or S10 diets (p<0.05). In conclusion, feed intake and DM digestibility were affected by rye silage, and the cortisol concentration, backfat thickness and fatty acid composition of pork were positively affected by feeding pigs rye silage.