Reducing corn particle size improved feed efficiency (every 100-µ reduction in particle size improved F/G by approximately 1%) and economic return in finishing pigs but not in nursery pigs. In finishing, the response is particularly significant because the diets used in the study included only 30 to 39% corn due to the inclusion of DDGS and midds. The nursery results were unexpected due to previous research reporting improvements during the nursery phase with reductions in corn particle size. Our research indicates that reducing corn particle size below 600 microns does not benefit nursery pigs.
As expected, pelleting diets in both experiments improved growth rate, feed efficiency, and caloric efficiency. This improvement could be due to improvements in diet digestibility, because feed intake was not changed. Pelleting increased total revenue and income over feed cost in both experiments when using a pelleting charge of $6/ton.
Producer bottom line:
• Reducing corn particle size improved fed efficiency and economics in finishing pigs.
• Fine grinding other major ingredients or the whole diet after mixing was not advantageous because feed intake was reduced when the diet was fed in meal form and feed efficiency was unchanged compared to just fine grinding the corn portion.
• Pelleting improved feed efficiency, caloric efficiency, and income over feed cost and should be further explored by producers and feed manufacturers as a means to improve net return in light of current high feed costs.
Kansas State University
Department of Animal Sciences and Industry
222 Weber Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-2280
[email protected]