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The Relative Importance of Major Nutrients in a Fortified Corn-Soybean Meal Diet for Growing-finishing Pigs and Rats—A Teaching Aid¹

North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27650

Abstract

Beginning graduate students participated in all phases of this study. They were encouraged by having the opportunity to work with animals in an experimental setting. The students learned to collect, organize, analyze and draw conclusions from data. They developed a sense of responsibility and became keen observers of their animals. They learned that it was necessary to question their own results and the results and conclusions of others. The students were enthusiastically impressed by their improved ability to communicate, which resulted from their need to relate their results to others. Sixty-four rats (average initial weight 59 g) and 96 pigs (average initial weight 16 kg) were used to evaluate deletions of major nutrients from a control fortified corn-soybean meal diet. Performance of both rats and pigs was drastically reduced by the omission of soybean protein from the diet. The most critical deficiency was created by the omission of supplemental Ca. Five of 12 pigs fed the Ca-deficient diet died, and four of 21 pigs died when both supplemental Ca and P were omitted from the diet. There were no deaths among pigs on the other treatments or among the rats. The omission of salt and trace minerals from the rats' diets caused an 81% reduction in growth rate; however, symptoms of specific deficiencies were not observed. A similar omission from the diet fed to pigs caused a 27% reduction in gain. Performance was not significantly reduced when the vitamin supplement was omitted from the diet of pigs, but daily gain was reduced (P<.05) among rats.

¹ Paper no. 5963 of the Journal Ser. of the North Carolina Agr. Res. Service, Raleigh. The use of trade names in this publication does not imply endorsement by the North Carolina Agr. Res. Service of the products named, nor criticism of similar ones not mentioned.

² The authors acknowledge the assistance of Romulo Rincon and C. L. Lunchick with this project.

³ Anim. Sci. Dept.