Evaluation of a novel threonine source for nursery pig diets

Four hundred and eighty (PIC 337 X 1050, PIC Genus, Hendersonville, TN) pigs were used to evaluate a novel threonine source (ThrPro, CJ America Bio, Fort Dodge, IA) for nursery pigs from approximately 7 to 20 kg body weight (BW). After weaning, pigs were sorted by sex and fed a common diet for 1 wk. Upon completion of the first week, pigs were sorted into randomized complete blocks, equalized by weight, within 16 replications. Pigs were allocated to one of three dietary treatments: positive control (POS)-standard ileal digestible threonine-to-lysine ratio (SID; Thr:Lys) 0.60, negative control (NEG)-SID Thr:Lys ≤0.46, and alternative Thr source (TEST)-SID Thr:Lys 0.60. The alternative Thr source included fermentative biomass and was assumed to contain 75% Thr and a digestibility coefficient of 100% based on the manufacturer's specifications. All other nutrients met or exceeded the NRC recommendations. Growth and intake data were analyzed as repeated measures with a compound symmetry covariance structure using the MIXED procedure in SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) with pen as the experimental unit. Treatment, phase, the interaction between treatment and phase, and block were included as fixed effects in the model. Differences in total removals were tested using Fisher's Exact Test of PROC FREQ. Results were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05 and considered a trend at P > 0.05 and P ≤ 0.10. During the first 14 d, pigs fed TEST had decreased gain-to-feed ratio (G:F; 0.77 vs. 0.80, P = 0.022) compared to POS and increased G:F (0.77 vs. 0.73, P < 0.001) compared to NEG. Over days 14-28, pigs fed TEST had similar G:F (0.71 vs. 0.70, P = 0.112) compared to POS and increased G:F (0.71 vs. 0.63, P < 0.001) compared to NEG. Overall (days 0-28), pigs fed TEST had similar average daily gain (ADG; 0.47 vs. 0.47 kg/d, P = 0.982) and G:F (0.76 vs. 0.74, P = 0.395) compared to POS and increased ADG (0.47 vs. 0.43 kg/d, P < 0.001) and G:F (0.76 vs. 0.67, P < 0.001) compared to NEG. The average daily feed intake was not significantly different across treatments for the entirety of the study. In conclusion, the replacement of crystalline L-Thr with a novel Thr source resulted in similar growth performance in nursery pigs from approximately 7 to 20 kg.