Abstract:
This experiment was designed to determine the effects of 3 protein and 3 energy (carbohydrate) sources on the growth rate of weaner piglets and their eciency of nutrient utilisation. All 3 energy sources and 2 of the protein sources [casein plus free amino acids (casein), free amino acids alone (FAA)] were chosen because they were suitable for studies measuring amino acid utilisation. The third protein source, based predominantly on peptide protein, was a combination casein-fish meal-soyabean meal (CFS). The combinations of carbohydrates tested were sucrose alone, sucrose plus 150 g lactose/kg, and wheat starch plus 150 g sucrose plus 150 g lactose/kg. The experiment was a randomised complete block design based on a 33 factorial arrangement with 5 blocks and 9 pigs per block. Piglets given CFS as the protein source exhibited greater (