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The effect of prior experience of feeds on the diets selected by growing pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

I. Kyriazakis
Affiliation:
The Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JC
G.C. Emmans
Affiliation:
The Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JC
C.T. Whittemore
Affiliation:
The Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JC
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Extract

A test of the theory that animals seek to eat what they need, is to offer them a choice of two feeds with different protein contents but similar energy yields. The animals, treated in this way, are expected to eat that combination of the two feeds which Just meets their protein and energy requirements. However, in a previous experiment (Kyriazakis, Emmans and Whittemore, 1987), when pigs were offered a choice between two feeds, a high variation in the choices of individuals was observed. This was attributed to the need for an initial learning period, where animals obtain information about the feeds before making “correct choices”. The purpose of this experiment was to compare different ways of giving the opportunity to the animals to learn about the feeds on offer, and to measure their effects on the diets selected by young pigs given choices between the same pair of feeds.

Type
Nutrition of Growth and Finishing Pigs
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1988

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References

Kyriazakis, I, Emmans, C.C. and Whittemore, C.T. (1987). Anim. Prod. 44: 462.Google Scholar