Ten crossbred boars were penned individually and offered either meal or pellets of identical composition to appetite from single space hopper feeders which also provided water. The hoppers were sited on raised steel mesh platforms 1·2 m × 0·87 m in size under which was placed a similar sized collecting tray. Spilled food was collected for 24 h once weekly for the 4-week experimental period. Live-weight gain tended to be lower on the meal diet compared with the pellets (882 v. 968 (s.e. 28·7); P = 0·07) while food conversion efficiency (g food per g growth) was worse on the meal diet (2·65 v. 241 (s.e. 0·059); P < 0·05). Food spillage is the most likely explanation for the difference in food conversion, however collectable spilled food was (g/g food offered) 0·0089 and 0·0026 respectively of meal and pellets offered. The value for the meal diet is about one-tenth of the expected value and suggests that direct collection of spillage from non-pelleted diets even over a wide area in front of the feeder is not an accurate technique.
