Effects of meal or pellet diet form on finishing pig performance and carcass characteristics

In Exp. 1, a total of 1,072 pigs (60.7 lb) were used in a 112-d trial. Treatments were arranged in 2 × 2 factorial design (10 pens per treatment) with main effects of diet form (meal or pellet) and gender (barrows or gilts). Diet formulation and particle size (approximately 660 microns) was identical among the treatments. From d 0 to 112, pigs fed pelleted diets had increased ADG (2.04 vs. 1.92 lb, P < 0.01) compared with pigs fed diets in meal form. There was no difference (P = 0.69) in ADFI, but pigs fed pelleted diets had a 5.3% improvement (2.68 vs. 2.83, P < 0.01) in F/G compared with pigs fed meal diets. With the improvements in F/G driving the growth response, pigs fed pellets were 13.6 lb heavier (P < 0.01) at off test than pigs fed meal diets.