The effect of feeding crude glycerol on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs

Abstract

The effects of substituting wheat with crude glycerol as a dietary energy source were evaluated. Seventy-two weaned pigs were fed for 4 wk one of three pelleted wheat-based diets containing 0, 4, or 8% glycerol and formulated to 2.28 Mcal kg -1 net energy (NE) and 5.02 g standardized ileal digestible lysine Mcal -1 NE. For day 0 to 28, body weight increased linearly (P = 0.04); pigs fed 8% glycerol were 1.11 kg heavier than pigs fed 0% glycerol. Glycerol inclusion tended to increase average daily gain linearly (P = 0.066) and increased average daily feed intake quadratically (P = 0.037) without affecting feed efficiency (P > 0.10). Feeding up to 8% dietary crude glycerol by substituting wheat can enhance the growth performance of weaned pigs. Key words: Co-product, digestibility, glycerol, weaned pig