Dunshea Frank R, McCauley Ian, Smits Robert J
School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
Faculty of Biological Sciences, The University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Dec 20;14(24):3685. doi: 10.3390/ani14243685.
The growth of boars may be inhibited because of aggressive and/or sexual activity. Dietary Br, Mg and tryptophan (Trp) as well as immunocastration may reduce these behaviours. In Experiment 1, 200 boars and 40 barrows were allocated to six groups of four pens of 10 pigs per treatment. Control and immunocastrate (Improvac-vaccinated at 13 and 17 weeks, Imp) boars and barrows were fed a finisher ration while the others were fed diets supplemented with Mg (5 g Mg proteinate/kg), Br (140 mg NaBr/kg) and Trp (5 g Trp/kg). In experiment 2, 300 boars were stratified by weight and within three weight classes allocated to two pens of ten pigs per treatment. Control and Imp boars were fed a finisher ration while the other diets were supplemented with Br, Trp or both Br and Trp. In Experiment 1, average daily gain (ADG) was not affected by diet but the Imp boars had higher ADG than controls. Feed intake (FI) tended to be higher in all treatments compared to controls except for the Trp group. In Experiment 2, Imp boars had higher ADG and FI than other treatments while Br+Trp boars had higher ADG and FI than controls. These data suggest that immunocastration and dietary Trp and Br show promise for improving performance in group-housed boars.
公猪的生长可能会因好斗和/或性行为而受到抑制。日粮中的溴、镁和色氨酸（Trp）以及免疫去势可能会减少这些行为。在实验1中，将200头公猪和40头阉猪分配到六组，每组四个围栏，每组处理10头猪。对照和免疫去势（在13周和17周接种Improvac疫苗，Imp）的公猪和阉猪饲喂育肥期日粮，而其他猪则饲喂添加了镁（5 g 蛋白镁/kg）、溴（140 mg 溴化钠/kg）和色氨酸（5 g 色氨酸/kg）的日粮。在实验2中，300头公猪按体重分层，在三个体重等级内，每组处理分配到两个围栏，每组10头猪。对照和Imp公猪饲喂育肥期日粮，而其他日粮则添加了溴、色氨酸或溴和色氨酸两者。在实验1中，日粮对平均日增重（ADG）没有影响，但Imp公猪的ADG高于对照组。除色氨酸组外，所有处理的采食量（FI）均高于对照组。在实验2中，Imp公猪的ADG和FI高于其他处理组；而添加溴+色氨酸的公猪的ADG和FI高于对照组。这些数据表明，免疫去势以及日粮中的色氨酸和溴有望提高群饲公猪的生产性能。
