Table 3.
Effect of digestible P (g/kg) and Ca:digestible P ratio on growth performance in grower (d 0 to 42) and in finisher (d 42 to 91) pigs.
| Item | Digestible P 1 | Ca:Digestible P | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P− | P+ | p-Value 2 | 2.2:1 | 2.5:1 | 2.8:1 | p-Value 2 | SEM | |
| N° | 36 | 48 | 24 | 36 | 24 | |||
| BW, Initial (kg) | 23.2 | 23.2 | n.s. | 23.1 | 23.2 | 23.3 | n.s. | 0.58 |
| BW, d 42 (kg) | 57.0 | 58.9 | n.s. | 58.5 | 57.7 | 57.6 | n.s. | 1.29 |
| BW, final (kg) | 103.3 | 102.9 | n.s. | 102.8 | 103.4 | 103.0 | n.s. | 2.05 |
| Carcass weight (kg) | 82.7 | 82.3 | n.s. | 82.1 | 82.8 | 82.5 | n.s. | 1.77 |
| BW gain grower (g/d) | 827 | 866 | n.s. | 857 | 844 | 838 | n.s. | 22.3 |
| BW gain finisher (g/d) | 978 | 924 | + | 927 | 965 | 962 | n.s. | 24.6 |
| BW gain overall (g/d) | 898 | 893 | n.s. | 893 | 899 | 894 | n.s. | 20.8 |
| FI grower (g/d) | 1807 | 1880 | n.s. | 1867 | 1840 | 1824 | n.s. | 61.4 |
| FI finisher (g/d) | 3101 | 2951 | n.s. | 3015 | 3058 | 3005 | n.s. | 96.4 |
| FI overall (g/d) | 2395 | 2362 | n.s. | 2395 | 2387 | 2353 | n.s. | 73.8 |
| FCR grower (g/d) | 2.18 | 2.17 | n.s. | 2.17 | 2.18 | 2.17 | n.s. | 0.036 |
| FCR finisher (g/d) | 3.17 | 3.19 | n.s. | 3.25 b | 3.16 a | 3.12 a | ** | 0.052 |
| FCR overall (g/d) | 2.66 | 2.64 | n.s. | 2.68 | 2.65 | 2.62 | + | 0.038 |
1 P– = Formulated to contain 2.5 and 1.7 g digestible P/kg grower and finisher diets, respectively. P+ = Formulated to contain 3.0 and 2.4 g digestible P/kg grower and finisher diets, respectively. 2 ** p < 0.01; n.s. (non-significant) p > 0.05; + p < 0.10; two-way interactions were not significant. Thus, only main effects are presented. For each main factor, values in the same row not followed by the same letter differ.