Food intake and live growth performance of pigs measured automatically and continuously from 25 to 115 kg live weight

Continuous automatic measurement and electronic recording provided data for individual pig live weight and food intake on a daily basis for a total of 74 pigs representing three commercially available crossbred types of mixed genetic origin, which were kept under commercial farming conditions to determine practical expectations for food intake and performance characteristics over the whole of the growth range from 25 to 115 kg live weight. The pig types were named as 'Landrace' type, 'Pietrain' type and 'Meishan' type, having been chosen to represent 'lean', 'meaty' and 'fatty' types. The pigs were fed ad libitum and serially slaughtered in groups at 32, 42, 63, 82 and 112 kg live weight (W). Results are presented in the order of pig type as above. Daily live weight gains at 80 kg live weight were 0.93, 0.94 and 0.91 kg day(-1) and at 100kg were 1.04, 0.81 and 0.7S kg day(-1). Food intake curves differed with respect to both position and shape, with 'Pietrain' type pigs showing a lower increase with increasing live weight. Significant differences were found in the levels of fatness, as measured by P2 backfat depth, of the three pig types across the weight range examined (P < 0.001), in order of fatness 'Pietrain' type < 'Landrace' type < 'Meishan'type. (C) 2003 Society of Chemical Industry.