THE USE OF A MEAT AND BONE MEAL AS A PROTEIN SOURCE FOR PIG RATIONS
J. A. SPRINGHALL*
Summary
The use of a’ meat and bone meal as the main protein source for pigs of 20 kg was investigated. It was compared in two feeding periods with soybean and fish meals alone or with mixtures of the two. The pigs, fed either the soybean or the fish meal or the meat and bone meal with either soybean or fish meal, had significantly heavier weight gains than the pigs fed a ration with meat and bone meal alone. Feed conversion results followed a similar pattern to liveweight results.
I. INTRODUCTION
In Australia, meat meal is an accepted protein concentrate for livestock rations. Most of the rations fed to pigs have been composed of cereal grains supplemented with meal meal.
Variation in the quality of meat and bone meal has been reviewed by Kondos ( 1969) and attributed to both composition and processing procedures.
The object of the investigation reported in this paper was to investigate the use of a particular type of meat meal, relatively high in crude protein content, as a protein concentrate for growing pigs either alone or supplemented with either soybean meal or fish meal.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty large white pigs were obtained from a commercial piggery and housed in individual pens with slatted floors. The pigs were drafted into five groups so that the groups were approximately equal in weigha. Each group was allotted to a particular treatment at random. The pigs were fed once daily, and offered an amount dependent on their weight (National Research Council 1968). This amount was reduced if any feed was rejected by the animals. The pigs were
weighed weekly. . .
The meat and bone meal used was obtained from a Queensland manufac- turer. In its production, the meat is trimmed from kangaroo carcasses for pet food, then the remainder, together with, horse offal, was processed into the meat and bone meal. The percentage composition of the meat and. bone meal on an air
* Veterinary School, University of Queensland.
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TABLE 1
Composition of the experimental rations used in the first feeding period (5 wk)
dry basis was dry matter 91.5, crude protein 53.5, fat 7.5, ash 30.9, with neglig- ible crude fibre. The composition of the rations is as shown in Tables 1 and 2.
The pigs were fed rations containing 16 per cent crude protein for five weeks.
The crude protein content was then decreased to 14 per cent for the next four weeks. No attempt was made to maintain the rations isocaloric.
TABLE 2
Composition of experimental rations used in the second feeding period (4 wk)
Statistical treatment of the data consisted of the analysis of co-variance (Snedecor 1964).
III. RESULTS
During the first feeding period, the groups fed soybean or fish meal as the only protein supplement produced comparable weight gains. which were superior (P<O.Ol ) to those where these meals were supplemented with meat and bone meal. Meat and bone meal alone produced significantly poorer (P<O.Ol ) growth rates than when combined with soybean or fish meal (Table 3). In the second feeding period, when the crude protein content of all rations was reduced from
16 to 14 per cent, the results were similar to those for the first five weeks.
The feed conversion ratio for the group receiving the meat and bone meal as the only protein supplement was significantly higher (P<O.O5) than all the other groups’ feed conversion ratios.
IV. DISCUSSION
The meat and bone meal used in this experiment had a crude protein content of 54 per cent. This is higher than the average meat and bone meal, which is usually about 45 per cent. Most of thlese meat meals contain a high percentage of bone, and their manufacture (Kondos 1969) leaves much to be desired as far as cooking temperatures and pressures are concerned. Thus, the processing of this meat and bone meal may have rendered some of the amino acids less digestible and may possibly account for the lower growth rates obtained.
It is considered that 31 per cent ash in any food material is excessive. Most of this material was in the form of bone. If some or most of this could have been screened out of the final product, the results may have been better.
Todd and Daniels ( 1965) reported that daily gain and feed conversion rates of pigs fed Queensland meat and bone meal as the only protein supplement to grain sorghum were inferior to those obtained when fish meal was used.
Performance on mixtures of the two supplements was intermediate. Wilson and Holder ( 1967) indicated a trend for superior performance on fish meal and skim . milk powder when compared with meat and bone meal at approximately the same level of supplementation. This work adds further confirmation to both these results.
From the results of these experiments, it would appear that this meat and bone meal as the sole source of protein for pig rations does not produce satis- factory growth when compared with rations in which soybean meal or fish meal is the protein source. However, when meat and bone meal was supplemented with soybean meal or fish meal, the resultant growth rates were intermediate between soybean or fish meal rations, and meat and bone meal.
V. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was financed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, Rural Credits Development Fund, to whom the author is grateful. Thanks are also due to Mr. 1.
Burgess for statistical treatment of the results, and to Mr. D. Cox who was responsile for the care of the animals throughout the experiment.
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TABLE 3
VI. REFERENCES
KONDOS, A. C. (1969). Proc. 1969 Aust. Poultry Sci. Cow. 255.
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (1968). “Nutrient Requirements of Swine”. 6th Ed. (National Academy of Science: Washington, D. C.)
SNEDECOR, G. W. ( 1964). “Statistical Methods.” 6th Ed. (Iowa State University Press:
Ames).
TO D D, A. C. E., and DANIELS, L. J. ( 1965). Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Hus. 5: 404.
WILSON, B. R. and HOLDER, J. M. (1967). Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Hus. 7: 562.
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