ABSTRACT
I. Factors Affecting Nutrient Requirements.............................................................................717 A. Genetics .....................................................................................................................717 B. Sex.............................................................................................................................718 C. Stage of Maturity ......................................................................................................718 D. Environmental Temperature ......................................................................................719 E. Herd Health ...............................................................................................................719
II. Feeding Management Considerations...................................................................................719 A. Feed Wastage.............................................................................................................719 B. Calcium and Phosphorus ..........................................................................................720 C. Specialty Grains ........................................................................................................720 D. Antibiotics .................................................................................................................720 E. Feed Budgeting .........................................................................................................721 F. Feed Processing and Pelleting ..................................................................................721
References ......................................................................................................................................722
The growing-finishing period(s) is generally considered to encompass the weight range from 25 or 30 to 120 kg or that time between removal from the nursery to market. This period has been considered to be the least-complicated segment of swine production, but with newer genotypes and feeding strategies it is growing in complexity. Approximately 75 to 80% of the total feed used per unit of pork marketed is consumed during this period, representing approximately 50 to 60% of the total cost of pork production. Several factors can, however, affect the growing-finishing pig’s nutrient requirements. Those factors of greatest influence on the pig’s growth rate and nutrient requirements are genetics, sex, herd health, environmental temperature, and stage of development. The National Research Council (NRC, 1998) has included most of these factors in the computer model used to predict nutrient requirements for today’s growing-finishing pigs.
