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Response of barrows to space allocation and ractopamine^1,2,3

M. C. Brumm^*,4, P. S. Miller^* and R. C. Thaler

^* Haskell Agricultural Laboratory, University of Nebraska, Concord 68728; and and Department of Animal and Range Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings 57006

⁴ Correspondence: 57905 866 Rd. (phone: 402-584-2816; fax: 402-584-2859; e-mail:mbrumm1{at}unl.edu).

An experiment using 264 crossbred barrows was conducted to examine the interaction between space allocation and dietary ractopamine addition on pig performance and carcass characteristics using a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Treatments were 0.55 (19 pigs per pen) or 0.74 (14 pigs per pen) m²/pig from start (29.7 ± 0.1 kg BW) to slaughter (108 kg BW) in a fully slatted facility and 0 or 10 ppm (as-fed basis) ractopamine for 28 d before slaughter. There were few treatment interactions. Pigs given 0.55 m²/pig had a lower ADG (P = 0.010), ADFI (P = 0.088), 10th-rib backfat depth on d 86 (P = 0.010), and carcass loin muscle depth (P = 0.011) than pigs given 0.74 m²/pig. There was no difference in feed conversion (P = 0.210) as a result of space allocation. Pigs fed diets containing 10 ppm ractopamine had decreased (P = 0.004) ADFI and improved (P = 0.001) feed conversion efficiencies for the 28-d feeding period, along with greater loin depth (P = 0.005) and carcass lean percent (P = 0.001). The improvements in 28-d carcass lean growth associated with feeding 10 ppm ractopamine resulted in an improvement in overall daily fat-free lean gain (P = 0.046). Under these experimental conditions, the response to dietary ractopamine was similar for crowded and uncrowded pigs.

Key Words: Pigs • Ractopamine • Space Allocation

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