INNOVATION INNOVATION

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effects of dietary replacement of fish meal with fermented byproduct（U-pro）on growth performances and palatability of weanling piglets. In trial 1, the diets supplemented with 5% fish meal (FM), 2.5% U-pro + 2.5% FM and 5% U-pro were fed to weanling pigs for 3 weeks. In trial 2, the diets supplemented with 5% fish meal (FM), 2.5% U-pro + 2.5% FM and 5% U-pro were fed to weanling pigs for 3 days to test the feed consumption for palatability.

The results from trial 1 indicated that total or partial replacement of FM with U-pro did not significantly influence average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (F/G) (P > 0.05). The final body weights of U-pro 2.5% group were higher than those of FM and U-pro 5.0% groups (P < 0.05) for the 3 weeks trial period. The results from trial 2 indicated that the total feed consumption of the first three days after weaning in the weanling pigs in U-pro 5.0% group was significantly higher than that of the fishmeal group and U-pro 2.5% group (P<0.05).

In conclusion, the overall results indicated that total and partial replacement of fish meal with U-pro in the diets could improve growth performances and palatability of weanling piglets. Therefore, the fermented byproduct (U-pro) could be used as alternative to replace fishmeal in piglet diets to improve growth performances and reduce feed cost.