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The Inhibitory Effect of Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal in the Diet of Swine

Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Urbana

Abstract

Four feeding trials were conducted to clarify the nature of the inhibitory effect of dehydrated alfalfa meal on the rate and efficiency of gain in swine. Weanling pigs fed in drylot were used in the tests.

Dehydrated alfalfa meal was added as a replacement for yellow corn in a corn-soybean oil meal diet at 15 and 30% levels, and also with additions of refined corn oil to yield calculated TDN values equal to the control. When 15 and 30% alfalfa meal was added to the diet a significant decline in performance resulted with either an ad libitum or an equal feeding regimen. With equal feeding the corn oil completely counteracted the depression in rate and efficiency of gain produced by alfalfa meal. With ad libitum feeding, corn oil improved the efficiency of feed utilization, but had no effect upon rate of gain.

In another ad libitum-fed test, 1% cholesterol was added to the corn-soybean oil meal diet and to the 30% alfalfa meal diet with and without corn oil. The effect of cholesterol to improve rate and efficiency of gain, which approached statistical significance, was greatest with the 30% alfalfa meal diet without added corn oil. In this test corn oil with the alfalfa meal diet had a slight but statistically significant effect upon the rate of gain and improved feed efficiency.

The addition of 1% cholesterol to the corn-soybean oil meal diet gave a slight increase in gain which was not statistically significant. However, 2% cholesterol in such a diet caused significant inhibition of rate of gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency.

It appears that a majority of the growth-depressing property of dehydrated alfalfa meal is due to a lowered TDN content of the diet and to a lowered feed intake by the pig.

¹ The authors wish to acknowledge A. E. Stanley Mfg. Co., Decatur, Illinois; Commercial Solvent Corporation, Terre Haute, Indiana; Hiram Walker and Sons, Inc., Peoria, Illinois; American Cynamid Company, Pearl River, New York, and Merck & Co., Rahway, New Jersey, for funds and products which made this investigation possible.