The effect of mixed fodders on the growth, carcass composition and meat quality in pigs

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of mixed fodders with a high content of corn or barley on the productive characteristics of growing pigs. The pigs (20 animals) were separated into two groups (10 animals each). The pigs in the first experimental group were fed a mixture based on corn meal; the pigs in the second group were fed a diet, with a high content of barley. The live weight of the pigs which were fed a barley diet, was slightly higher during the first growing phase – the difference came to 1.17 kg (p<0.05), but at the end of the experiment no significant differences in the average daily weight gain were observed in both groups: 0.500 and 0.501 g. Differences were found in the total fodder consumption, which amounted to 2.10 kg a day in the first group, and to 1.96 kg per day in the second group. The food consumption per 1 kg LW was of 4.21 and 3.91, respectively. No differences were found in carcass characteristics regarding slaughter weight, but the thickness of back fat in the pigs, which were fed diets based on barley, was of 10.33 mm, which was lower by 6.33 mm compared to the pigs in the first group. No differences in chemical composition and meat quality were detected among the pigs in the experimental groups except for the colour intensity of the meat from the pigs in the second group, which was brighter by 59 units (p<0.001).