EFFECT OF DEOXYNIVALENOL (DON)-CONTAMINATED DIET FED TO GROWING-FINISHING PIGS ON THEIR PERFORMANCE AT MARKET WEIGHT, NITROGEN RETENTION AND DON EXCRETION

In a feeding experiment, a total of 64 pigs (16–18 kg body weight) were assigned to four experimental diets. Three diets contained 70% wheat, one with clean wheat (C), another with DON-contaminated wheat (V) and the third a 50:50 mixture of the clean and contaminated wheats (CV). The fourth diet, included for comparative purposes only, was a barley-corn-soybean meal diet (PC). The DON content of each diet was 0.0, 0.0, 2.89 and 5.26 mg kg−1, respectively. Pigs were penned individually and offered the diets ad libitum until reaching 90 ± 5 kg body weight: a necropsy was conducted on each pig. In a metabolism trial, seven pairs of littermate barrows were fed two of the experimental diets (C and V). Feed and water allowances were based upon the voluntary intake (twice daily) of the littermate offered diet V. During a 5-d period, feces and urine were collected separately and samples taken for subsequent nitrogen and DON analyses. Pigs fed diet PC reached market weight earlier than those fed the other diets. F...