Protein supplementation value of sun-dried ensiled sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) in grower pigs: Growth performance and nitrogen utilization

Abstract

24 male pigs of similar crosses and initial weight of 13.2±0.1 kg were used to determine the effect of sun-dried ensiled Tithonia diversifolia leaf meal (DETD) on their growth performance and nitrogen utilization at dietary inclusion of 10, 20 and 30%. All diets were isocaloric and contained about 19% crude protein. The animals were randomly assigned into four dietary treatments and individually housed. There was a significant reduction (P<0.05) in the average daily weight gain (AWG) for pigs across the experimental diets. Daily feed intake (ADF) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) had similar trend varying significantly (P>0.05) from 96.03 g/day for pigs on the control diet to 102.67 g/day for pigs on diet with 30% DETD inclusion for feed intake, while FCR ranged from 0.67 for pigs on 10% DETD inclusion level to 1.0 for pigs on 30% DETD inclusion level. Nitrogen retention (NR) had the highest significant value (P>0.05) of 21.01 g/N/pig/day for pigs on 10 and 20% DETD. Protein efficiency ratio varied significantly (P>0.05) from 4.65 on 20% DETD inclusion to 6.45 on 10% DETD level. The potential value of DETD as novel feed resource was revealed and levels not exceeding 10% of DETD are supported for optimum growth performance and nitrogen utilization.