Efficacy of chromium picolinate on performance and tissue accretion in pigs with different lean gain potential

We conducted two experiments to determine whether the efficacy of chromium picolinate (CrP) on growth performance, carcass composition, and tissue accretion rates is dependent on the lean gain potential of the pigs. In Exp. 1, 40 barrows (20 from each of two genetic backgrounds; two pigs per pen, five pens per treatment) were fed a fortified, corn-soybean meal basal diet (.95% lysine from 19 to 55 kg BW; .80% lysine from 55 to 109 kg BW) without or with 200 microg/kg of Cr from CrP. The addition of Cr had no effect on performance, carcass measurements, or accretion rates of carcass protein or lipid, regardless of the lean gain potential of the pigs. In Exp. 2, 60 group-penned pigs (three pigs per pen; five pens per treatment) were fed a fortified, corn-soybean meal basal diet without or with 200 microg/kg of Cr from CrP from 21 to 104 kg BW. Within the dietary Cr treatments, half of the pigs received daily injections of 3 mg of porcine somatotropin (pST) from 54 to 104 kg BW. The pST administration resulted in faster growth rates (P < .007), improved feed efficiency (P < .001), increased longissimus area (P < .001), and decreased 10th-rib backfat (P < .001). Administration of pST also increased the percentage and accretion rate of carcass protein (P < .001) and decreased the percentage and accretion rate of carcass lipid (P < .001). The addition of CrP to the diet had no effect on any variable measured in either the untreated or pST-treated pigs. In these studies, Cr was ineffective at altering the composition of the carcass and its effects were not dependent on the pig's potential for lean gain.