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Response of Growing-Finishing Pigs to Decreasing Floor Space Allowance and(or) Virginiamycin in Diet^1,2,

University of Minnesota⁴, St. Paul 55108

Abstract

Five hundred forty crossbred pigs were utilized in four trials (10 replications) at two stations to determine the separate and interacting effects of decreasing floor space allowance with or without the addition of virginiamycin to the diet on performance of growing-finishing pigs. Pigs were allowed .37, .33 or .28 m²/pig during the growing phase (23 to 55 kg) and .74, .66, .56 m²/pig during the finishing phase (55 to 100 kg) and fed either a corn-soybean meal control diet or the control diet plus 11 mg of virginiamycin/kg of diet. Floor space allowances were achieved by varying pen size, so the number of pigs and feeder space per pig were constant for all pens. During the growing phase, daily gain (P<.01) daily feed intake (P<.05) and feed conversion ratio (P<.05) decreased as floor space allowance decreased. During the finishing phase and for the total test period, daily gain (P<.01) and feed conversion ratio (P<.05) were reduced but daily feed intake was not affected (P>.05) by restricted floor space allowance. The addition of virginiamycin to the diet had no effect on pig performance. The virginiamycin x floor space allowance interaction was not significant, suggesting that pigs fed a diet with or without virginiamycin responded similarly to restricted floor space allowance. The data suggest that the addition of virginiamycin to the diet was ineffective in overcoming the decrease in performance of growing-finishing pigs caused by crowded conditions.

¹ Paper No. 13,996, Scientific Journal Series, Minnesota Agr. Exp. Sta.

² This research was supported in part by a grant from SmithKline Animal Health Products, Philadelphia, PA.

³ West Central Exp. Sta., Univ. of Minnesota, Morris 56267.

⁴ Dept. of Anim. Sci.

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