138 Effects of Wheat Middlings Inclusion Rate on Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of wheat middlings inclusion rate on growth performance of nursery pigs. A total of 1,750 pigs (initial BW = 6.0 kg), placed in pens with 35 pigs each, were used in a 39-d trial. There were 5 treatments consisting of 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20% wheat middlings. Corn and a fermented soybean meal product (ME-Pro, Prairie AquaTech, Brookings, SD) were replaced by wheat middlings to achieve the desired levels, whereas soybean meal inclusion rate was constant across treatments. Diets were not balanced for net energy. The experimental diets were fed from d 0 to 18 and a common corn-soybean meal-based diet was fed from d 18 to 39. There were 10 replicates per treatment. Pigs were weighed on d 0, 18, and 39 to calculate ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Data were analyzed with SAS MIXED procedure. From d 0 to 18, there was a linear (P = 0.041) reduction in ADG with increasing levels of wheat middlings; however, the differences were small (ranging from maximum 288 to minimum 275 g/d). This response was driven by a tendency (P = 0.096) for a linear ADFI response and a quadratic (P = 0.023) G:F response. From d 18 to 39, there was a linear (P = 0.016) G:F response, where pigs previously fed high levels of wheat middlings had improved G:F. Overall (d 0 to 39), there was no evidence (P > 0.10) for differences on growth performance. In conclusion, pigs fed high levels of wheat middlings had slightly decreased performance from d 0 to 18, but no evidence for differences were observed in the overall nursery period.