Studies on the Nutritive Value of Triticale for Growing Swine

Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Pecuarias, Mexico City—Mexico3 TRITICALE is a hybrid cereal derived from an interspecific cross between wheat (Triticum durum) and rye (Secale cereale) (Sell, Hodgson and Shebeski, 1962). Although the grain is not yet grown commercially, it has shown some agronomic and nutritive characteristics that qualify the species as a potential crop for the future (Larter, 1968). The value of the grain as a poultry and animal feedstuff has been tested in experiments with chicks (Sell et al., 1962; Bixler, Schaible and Bandemer, 1968; Bragg and Sharby, 1970; Avila and Cuca, 1971), rats (Knipfel, 1969), swine (Stothers and Shebeski, 1965; Bowland, 1968; Shimada et al., 1971) and ruminants (McCloy et al., 1971). Also, the cereal has been tested as a food for humans (Kies and Fox, 1970). In general, the results have shown that the feeding value of triticale is comparable to that of wheat, barley or corn. The purpose of the experiments reported herein was to compare the nutritive value of triticale with that of sorghum for growing pigs and to study the effects of L-lysine and DL-methionine additions to diets based on triticale as the main feed ingredient.