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Livestock-Based Farming Systems, Renewable Resources and the Environment |
The trial was carried out on 25 growing pigs of crossbred Duroc x (Yorkshire x Ba Xuyen) type, a breed that is popular for meat production now in the rural areas of the Mekong Delta. The experimental pigs had an average initial live weight of 51 kg and mean final weight of 92 kg. The design had 5 dietary treatments. The control diet was based on rice bran, broken rice and the commercial protein concentrate (PC). The experimental treatments had 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the protein concentrate replaced by the mixture of coconut meal (40) and catfish residue meal (60): (CM+CFM)25, (CM+CFM)50, (CM+CFM)75 or (CM+CFM)100.
The average daily weight gain and carcass back fat thickness were not affected by dietary treatments. However, feed conversion ratio was better for the (CM+CFM)50 treatment in comparison to the control diet. The iodine index of backfat was reduced, which means an improvement in the saturated fatty acid content (C12:0, C14:0, C16:0) by incorporation of (CM+CFM) in the diets. As a result, the combination of coconut meal and catfish residue meal resulted in firmer fat than when only protein concentrate. was used. Feed cost and cost conversion ratio tended to be lower for (CM+CFM)100 than for other diets. Overall, the combined usage of two agro industrial by-products as the protein supplement in pig diets can improve growth performance and quality of the carcass to get more benefit for farmers.