Federal Department of Economic Affairs FDEA Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP
ALP is part of the ALP-Haras Unit
Impact of birth weight and feeding
strategies during the growing and finishing period on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality in pigs
Giuseppe Bee, Claudine Biolley, Bernard Dougoud, and George Guex
SCHWEIZERISCHE VEREINIGUNG FÜR TIERPRODUKTION Frühjahrstagung 29.3.2011, Inforama Rütti, 3052 Zollikofen
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Birth weight and pork quality – reported relationship
(Rehfeldt and Kuhn, 2006)
Birth weight
low
(0.9 kg)
high
(1.8 kg)
carcass weight, kg lean meat, % omental fat, %
myofiber area, mm 2 myofiber number, x1000
ADWG, kg/d
Drip loss, %
0.582 0.641
84.2 92.5
54.8 56.5
2.78 2.44
6.6 4.5
900 1 200
3 900 3 200
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Feeding strategy and pork quality - reported
relationship
Compensatory growth
experimental day
0 20 40 60 80 100
BW, kg
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
ad libitum / ad libitum restricted / ad libitum restricted / restricted
Meat quality traits
• Proteolytic capacity
• Drip loss
• Tenderness
(Kristensen et al. 2002)
Growth performance
• ADWG
• feed intake
• G/F ratio
(Oksbjerg et al. 2001)
Objective
Can compensatory growth help to
overcome the negative impact of
low birth weight on carcass traits as
well as meat quality traits such as
drip loss and tenderness?
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Experimental design
42 barrows
(from 21 litters)
21 barrows
(low birth weight: 1.1 0.05 kg)
21 barrows
(high birth weight: > 1.9 0.05 kg)
AA RA RR
27 – 63 kg BWad libitumfeed access 63 – 102 kg BWad lbitumfeed access
27 – 63 kg BWrestrictedfeed access 63 – 102 kg BWad lbitumfeed access
27 – 63 kg BWrestrictedfeed access 63 – 102 kg BWrestrictedfeed access
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Growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality
Carcass measurements
• Percentage lean tissue
• Percentage subcutaneous fat
Growth performance
• ADWG
• Feed intake
• Gain to feed ratio
Meat quality traits
LM and dark portion of the semitendinosus (STD)
• Color
• Drip loss
(24 and 48 h)• Shear force
Protein analysis
LM and dark portion of the semitendinosus (STD)
• - and m-calpain activity
•(30 min and 24 h postmortem determined by casein-zymography)
•Degradation of titin
•(30 min, 24, 48, and 48 h postmortem determined by SDS-PAGE)
•Degradation of talin
•(30 min, 24, 48, and 48 h postmortem determined by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot)
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Growth performance – ADFI & ADWG effect of feeding strategy
Feeding strategy
AA RA RR
ADW G, kg
0.0 0.6 0.7
0.8 b
b
a
Feeding strategy
AA RA RR
ADF I, kg
0.0 1.6 1.8 2.0
2.2 c
b
a
Within a graph, bars that do not have common letters differ (P < 0.05)
Growth performance – total feed intake & G/F ratio effect of birth weight
Birth weight
L H
Total feed intake , kg
0 180 190 200
210 b
a
Birth weight
L H
Gain t o feed ratio, kg/kg
0.00 0.10 0.35 0.40
a
b
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Carcass measurements – lean percentage effect of feeding strategy & birth weight
Feeding startegy
AA RA RR
Le an percen tage , %
0 45 50 55 60
a a
b
Birth weight
L H
Lean per cent age, %
0 45 50 55 60
a
b
Within a graph, bars that do not have common letters differ (P < 0.05)
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Carcass measurements – lean percentage feeding strategy x birth weight interaction
Low birth weight High birth weight
AA RA RR
Le an percentag e, %
0 45 50 55 60
c c
d
AA RA RR
cd
d d
Within the graph, bars that do not have common letters differ (P < 0.10)
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Meat quality – color of the LM effect of feeding strategy
feeding strategy
AA RA RR
L* (li gh tness)
0 45 50 55
a
b
a
feeding strategy
AA RA RR
b* (y ell owness)
0.0 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.6 4.0
ab
b
a
Within a graph, bars that do not have common letters differ (P < 0.05)
Meat quality – shear force values of the LM and STD effect of feeding strategy
LM
Feeding strategy
AA RA RR
Shear f orce values, kg
0.0 3.2 3.6 4.0 4.4
ab
a
b STD
Feeding strategy
AA RA RR
Shear f orce values, kg
0.0 3.2 3.6 4.0 4.4 4.8 5.2
a
ab
b
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-calpain activity - in the LM
effect of feeding strategy
-calpain activity
(casein zymography)
hours postmortem
0.5 24.0
Standardized contour quantity
0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6
AA RA RR
P-values
Feeding regimen: 0.03 Birth weight: 0.86 Time postmortem: < 0.01
-calpain m-calpain
AA RA RR AA RA RR
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Conclusions
• Low birth weight was associated with impaired carcass quality
• lower lean percentage
• higher percentage subcutaneous adipose tissue
• consequence of the higher feed intake without increased growth Impact of birth weight
• Compensatory growth
• positively affected growth performance
• less feed and similar growth
• positively affected meat tenderness
• increased proteolytic capacity at slaughter
Impact of the feeding strategy
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