Time-response relationship of ractopamine feeding on growth performance, plasma urea nitrogen concentration, and carcass traits of finishing pigs

• Published in: Journal of animal science 2013-02, Vol.91 (2), p.811-818
• Main Authors: Almeida, V V, Nuñez, A J C, Schinckel, A P, Andrade, C, Balieiro, J C C, Sbardella, M, Miyada, V S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adrenergic beta-Agonists - administration & dosage; Adrenergic beta-Agonists - pharmacology; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Blood Urea Nitrogen; Body Composition - drug effects; Diet - veterinary; Drug Administration Schedule; Male; Phenethylamines - administration & dosage; Phenethylamines - pharmacology; Swine - blood; Swine - growth & development; Swine - physiology
• ISSN: 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.2527/jas.2012-5372

Ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC) improves swine production efficiency by redirecting nutrients to favor muscle accretion rather than fat deposition. In the present study, the time-dependent effect of RAC feeding on performance, plasma urea N (PUN) concentrations, and carcass traits of finishing pigs were evaluated. In a 28-d growth study, 80 barrows (average initial BW = 69.4 ± 7.9 kg) were assigned to 1 of 5 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 8 replicate pens per treatment and 2 pigs per pen. The pigs were fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet with no added RAC (control) or 10 mg of RAC/kg fed for 7, 14, 21, or 28 d before slaughter. All diets were formulated to contain 0.88% standardized ileal digestible Lys (1.0% total Lys) and 3.23 Mcal of ME/kg. Individual pig BW and pen feed disappearance were recorded weekly to determine BW changes, ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Anterior vena cava blood samples were taken on d 28 for determination of PUN concentrations. After 28 d on trial, the pigs were slaughtered and carcass measurements made at 24 h postmortem. Overall, providing pigs with different RAC feeding durations did not affect the final BW and ADFI but resulted in a tendency (P = 0.09) for a linear increase in ADG and a linear improvement (P = 0.003) in G:F. No effect of RAC feeding was found for weekly ADFI. Weekly improvements (P < 0.05) in ADG and G:F were observed over the first 21 d of RAC feeding. However, the growth response declined (P < 0.05) in wk 4 of RAC treatment. The concentrations of PUN exhibited a quadratic decrease (P = 0.004) as the RAC feeding duration increased. Although RAC feeding did not affect any backfat measurements and carcass length, increasing the RAC feeding duration linearly increased HCW (P = 0.01), dressing percentage (P = 0.03), LM depth (P = 0.001), LM area (P < 0.001), muscle-to-fat ratio (P = 0.004), and predicted carcass lean percentage (P = 0.02). These results indicate that a greater growth rate was achieved within the first 21 d of RAC feeding whereas the magnitude of carcass response was directly dependent on the duration of RAC feeding.