Growth Performance and Energy Utilization of Nursery Pigs Fed Increasing Levels of a Novel Corn Protein Complex.

A 42-day nursery pig trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of incremental levels of CPX (a corn product) on growth performance, nutrient composition in weaned pigs. Newly weaned pigs (21 ± 3 days of age; PIC 337 x 1050, Genus, Hendersonville, TN) were placed into groups of 10 pigs per pen in a room of 48 test pens. Experimental diets were administered in three phases, incorporating CPX at inclusion levels of 0, 7.5%, 10.0%, 12.5% in phase 1, and reduced by 50% in phase 2. CPX replaced fish meal and enzyme treated soybean meal. Pigs were fed a common diet in phase 3. Diets were formulated to provide equal standardized ileal digestible lysine and mineral concentrations, whereas dietary energy was allowed to float. Growth performance was measured on d 0, 10, 24, and 42. Phase 2 diets included titanium dioxide to enable estimation of digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), and net energy (NE). All data were analyzed using R Studio (Version 4.5.0; Vienna, Austria) as well as using linear mixed models with treatment as a fixed effect and block as a random effect, with initial body weight included as a covariate. Pen was the experimental unit. Statistical significance was declared at P ≤ 0.05, with trends noted. Initial body weight did not differ among treatments (P > 0.05). Overall average daily gain (0.40, 0.39, 0.37, and 0.40 kg/d, respectively), average daily feed intake (0.59, 0.58, 0.55, and 0.58 kg/d, respectively), and gain-to-feed ratio (0.68, 0.67, 0.67, and 0.69, respectively) were similar across treatments (P > 0.05). Feed intake during the final period (d 25-42) tended to decrease in pigs fed 10% PX (P = 0.07), but final body weight was not affected (P = 0.25). Although Phase 2 dietary NE decreased numerically with increasing CPX inclusion (2.80 to 2.74Mcal/kg as-fed), average daily gain per 1.00 Mcal NE remained consistent (0.242-0.253 Kg/Mcal; P > 0.05), indicating similar efficiency of energy utilization. In conclusion, these findings indicate that CPX can be included in nursery pig diets at levels up to 12.5% during early feeding phases without compromising growth performance, feed efficiency, energy utilization.