Tolerance of growing pigs to lupin alkaloids

In two experiments with a total of 93 young pigs, we measured responses in growth rate and feed intake to dietary lupin alkaloid concentrations which ranged from 0.05 to 0.52 g/kg. In the first experiment increasing the alkaloid levels from 0.12 to 0.52 g/kg in increments of 0.08 g/kg produced a progressive decline in growth rate and feed intake. In the second experiment, pig productivity was unaffected by increasing dietary alkaloids from 0.05 to 0.20 g/kg, but was depressed when the alkaloid level reached 0.35 g/kg. It was concluded that, with ad libitum feeding, growing pigs could tolerate up to 0.20 g/kg of dietary lupin alkaloids.