Effect or ractopamine on growth and body composition of pigs during compensatory growth

The purpose of this study was to measure the growth and body composition of pigs during normal or compensatory growth from 60 to 100 kg, without (cont) or with ractopamine (rac) supplementation (20 mg/kg of diet). Thirty-four pigs were scanned by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for body composition analysis at a starting weight of 61.4 ± 0.3 kg and at a final weight of 100.4 ± 0.5 kg. Half the pigs were fed ad libitum throughout (8 cont and 9 rac). The other half were fed at maintenance for 8 weeks and then scanned again by DXA. Following the maintenance feeding, the pigs were fed ad libitum (9 cont and 8 rac) to the final weight. Compensatory growth resulted in a 30% increase in the rate of weight gain (1.23 v. 0.94 kg/day, P < 0.05), including a 44% increase in the rate of lean tissue deposition (0.90 v. 0.62 kg/day, P < 0.05), but no change in the rate of fat deposition (0.31 v. 0.30 kg/day, P > 0.05). Feeding rac resulted in a 13% increase in the rate of weight gain (1.15 v. 1.02 kg/day, P < 0.05), consisting of a 29% increase in the rate of lean tissue deposition (0.86 v. 0.67 kg/day, P < 0.05) and an 18% reduction in the rate of fat deposition (0.27 v. 0.33 kg/day, P < 0.05). The effects of ractopamine on the rates of fat and lean tissue deposition were similar for pigs continuously fed ad libitum and those experiencing compensatory growth. Both compensatory growth and the addition of ractopamine to the diet resulted in an improvement in efficiency of protein deposition; however, ractopamine also resulted in a reduction in the efficiency of energy deposition. For both growth rate and lean tissue deposition, there was an additive effect for ractopamine and compensatory growth. Thus, feeding ractopamine will enhance the growth and body composition during compensatory growth in swine.