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Influence of Dietary Amino Acids on the Age at Puberty of Yorkshire Gilts^{1, 2,}

Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa, Ontario KIA OC6

Abstract

Five gilts in each of four lots were individually and limited-fed from about 115 days of age. The experimental diets comprised a basal (B) to which was added 0.31% L-lysine HCl and 0.08 % DL-methionine, singly or combined. Visual signs of first estrus, confirmed with a boar, were taken as the onset of puberty. Gilts fed the basal diet supplemented with methionine were younger (P<.05) at puberty than those fed the lysine-supplemented diet. In general, the gilts fed the two lysine-supplemented diets (L and LM) appeared to reach puberty later than the gilts in the other two lots (B and M). These data suggested that a dietary imbalance, due to lysine supplementation, was involved.

In a second experiment, there were four replicates, each of five dietary treatments with gilts fed ad libitum in groups of three per pen. All diets, except a corn-soybean positive control, were supplemented equally with 0.08% DL-methionine. The diets comprised a basal (B) to which was added 0.31% L-lysine HCl 0.05% DL-tryptophan, singly or combined. Gilts fed either the basal or lysine-supplemented (L) diets reached puberty from 12 to 24 days later than those fed the control, the tryptophan (T) or the lysine+tryptophan (LT) supplemented diets. Differences in body weight at puberty were not significant although control pigs average 98 ± 19 kg compared with 87 ± 10 kg for the (L) gilts. Rate of body weight gain was significantly greater (P<.01) for the control gilts than for gilts in the other four lots; and greater (P<.05) for the (LT) than for the (L) and the (T) gilts. In this study, there was some indication that the faster growing gilts reached puberty at an earlier age than the slower growing gilts.

¹ Contribution No. 476, Animal Research Institute.

² The operational staff responsible for care of the experimental animals were J. F. Hunter, D. D. Milligan and R. A. E. Armstrong.