Evaluation of animal protein supplements in diets of early-weaned pigs

Three growth assays were conducted to determine the efficacy of replacing dried skim milk and(or) dried whey in diets of starting pigs with commercially available spray-dried porcine plasma, spray-dried porcine blood, spray-dried bovine plasma, or spray-dried extracted meat protein. In Exp. 1, 236, 24-d-old crossbred pigs were fed diets containing either skim milk and whey or porcine plasma from 0 to 14 d postweaning and whey or porcine plasma from 14 to 28 d. Although pigs fed diets containing porcine plasma had greater ADFI and ADG than those fed milk products from 0 to 7 d, no differences were observed from d 0 to 14 or from 14 to 28 d postweaning. In Exp. 2, 204, 21-d-old pigs were fed corn-soybean meal-based diets using the following supplemental protein source combinations: skim milk and whey; skim milk, whey, and casein; porcine plasma, whey, and lactose/starch (10%); porcine plasma and lactose/starch (24.4%); or whey. A common diet (1.25% lysine, 10% whey) was fed from 14 to 35 d postweaning. Pigs fed diets containing porcine plasma consumed more feed and had greater ADG than others (P < .05) from 0 to 14 d and from 0 to 35 d. Both ADG and ADFI were highest when the diet contained 10.3% porcine plasma, 20% whey, and 10% added lactose. Experiment 3 used 150, 21-d-old pigs to compare the inclusion of skim milk, porcine plasma, porcine blood, bovine plasma, or meat extract in diets fed from 0 to 14 d postweaning. A common diet (the same as in Exp. 2) was fed from 14 to 35 d. Pigs fed porcine plasma had greater ADFI (P < .05) from 0 to 14 d than pigs fed other treatments. Also, pigs fed porcine plasma had greater ADG (P < .05) from 0 to 14 d than pigs fed all other diets except porcine blood. Pigs fed porcine blood had the largest ADFI (P < .05) from 14 to 35 d compared with pigs fed other diets. These experiments indicate that porcine plasma is a protein supplement superior to skim milk in diets of starting pigs and that porcine blood has a positive influence on subsequent growth performance.