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Report no. 547

Abstract
Fermented grain in liquid feed for heavy pigs was studied in this trial.

The trial was carried out in one herd and comprised two groups:

There was generally good agreement between the calculated and the analysed contents of nutrients in the feed. However, the analysed content of FUp was lower than calculated, but the level was identical in both groups and has thereby not affected the conclusion of the trial. Furthermore, the analysed content of methionine was lower than calculated in both groups, but more so in the control feed. This difference is due either to the increased fermentation in the pipelines of the control feed compared with the test feed or to lack of accuracy in the analysis results.

The contents of lactic acid bacteria and lactic acid were lower in the fermented grain than in the liquid feed mixes in both the control group and the test group, but pH was considerably lower in the fermented grain (pH 3.7) than in the liquid feed mixes (pH 4.5-4.9). This was due to the fact that the acid binding capacity in grain is low compared with ready-mixed liquid feed and that the liquid feed was fermented in the pipelines.

Biogenic amines were formed during fermentation of the grain and that resulted in a higher content of biogenic amines in the feed in the test group compared with the feed in the control group. The influence of the content of biogenic amines in the feed on the performance of the pigs in the test group is unknown.

Six weeks after transfer to the finisher unit, there was a tendency (p=0.05) towards a reduction in the prevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis in the pigs given liquid feed containing fermented grain compared with the pigs in the control group. It is not established if this difference in the prevalence of Lawsonia intracellularis at this relatively late point in the finisher period has had any influence on the prevalence of ileitis and thereby on the performance as no clinical examinations were made during the trial. There was no significant difference between the groups in mortality or in the number of treatments for diarrhoea.

The texture of the faeces was thinner in the pigs given liquid feed containing fermented grain during the first four weeks after transfer compared with the faeces of the control pigs. Microbiological studies of faeces six weeks after transfer showed that the pigs given liquid feed containing fermented grain had a lower degree of fermentation in the large intestine and a changed fermentation pattern compared with the control pigs.

The examination of the eating quality of the pork showed that there was no off-taste in the meat as a consequence of the fermentation of the grain in the feed. However, the meat was slightly less juicy in the test group than in the control group, and that cannot directly be explained from the expected effect of fermented grain.

The trial showed that use of fermented grain in feed for heavy pigs increased the production value significantly by 11%, which corresponds to DKK93 per place unit/year compared with using liquid feed containing grain that was not fermented with the same feed cost in both groups. The increased productivity was due to a higher daily gain (33 g/day) and to an improved feed conversion (0.15 FUp/kg gain). The lean meat percentage was, however, reduced by 0.4 percentage units and the feed intake was slightly lower (0.06 FUp/day) when fermented grain was used in the liquid feed.

Financial calculations based on the achieved production results show that the total price of liquid feed with fermented grain may be DKK0.11 higher per FUp than that of liquid feed with grain that is not fermented in order to achieve the same production value (GM/place unit/year). When the additional expenses for fermentation of the grain (DKK0.05 per FUp) are deducted from the extra income when using fermented grain for heavy pigs, a profit of DKK56 per place unit/year has been calculated on the basis of the achieved production results with a herd with 2,000 place units for heavy pigs (25-120 kg).

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