Apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients and the digestible and metabolizable energy values of five unconventional feedstuffs fed to growing pigs

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the nutrient profiles, the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients and the digestible energy (DE) and the metabolizable energy (ME) values of five unconventional feedstuffs: highland barley (HB), buckwheat (BKW), glutinous broomcorn millet (GBM), non-glutinous broomcorn millet (NBM) and Chinese naked oat (CNO) fed to growing pigs. Thirty-six crossbred barrows were allotted to six dietary treatments in a completely randomized design including a corn-soybean meal basal diet and five test diets containing unconventional ingredients. The ATTD of nutrients and energy as well as the DE and ME values of the five ingredients were calculated using the difference method. Among the five unconventional feedstuffs, GBM had the greatest ATTD of dry matter (DM) and CP, and NBM had the greatest ATTD of organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), and acid detergent fibre (ADF), while HB had the lowest ATTD of OM, DM, CP, and ADF. On DM basis, the DE and ME values for HB, BKW, GBM, NBM and CNO were 15.97–17.87 MJ/kg and 15.38–17.34 MJ/kg, respectively. From the nutritional point of view, those five unconventional feedstuffs especially the broomcorn millets could be potential replacements of corn in growing pig diets