Estimation of body gain of entire and castrated male pigs at two feeding levels and three body weights, using energy/nitrogen balance and comparative slaughter techniques

Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2000, Vol. 3(1) : 47-54Rates of tissue gain and body composition of 18 entire (E) and 18 castrated (C) male pigs, fed at one of two levels offeeding (high (H) or low (L)), were investigated in a 2x2factorial experiment. Calorimetric, energy and rlitrogen balances were carried out on each animal at 30, 60 and 90 kg live weight. The animals were slaughtered at 95 kg and their body composition was determined. The higher feeding level resulted in greater (P < 0.001) rates of body weight gain, protein andfat deposition in all treatment combinations. Castration was associated with decreased and increased potentialfor protein andfat deposition, respectively. Mean values of shoulder fat thickness, loinfat and subcutaneousfat (P2) were greater (P< 0.01 )for the animalsfed at the high compared with thosefed at the low level and thesefat measurements were greater in the castrated than the entire male pigs. Relative to the slaughter method, the balance method overestimated and underestimated the rates of protein andfat deposition by 0.16 and 0.10, respectively