Table 5.

Effects of feeding HMB to sows during lactation on skeletal muscle composition of the offspring

	CON	HMB	SEMa	P value
Weaning pigs
Body weight, kg	7.83	7.98	0.27	0.705
LD weight, g	127.2	130.7	9.0	0.792
Finishing pigs
Body weight, kg	106.8	114.0	1.2	0.002
Carcass weight, kg	77.8	83.8	0.9	0.001
LD weight, kg	3.02	3.27	0.09	0.065
Lean meat, %	63.05	66.25	1.09	0.067
Bone, %	10.67	10.66	0.45	0.983
SCAT, %	20.01	16.21	1.19	0.051
Skin, %	6.27	6.88	0.23	0.100

LD longissimus dorsi, SCAT subcutaneous adipose tissue, CON control, HMB β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate

^aPooled standard error of the mean (n = 6/treatment)