Triticale as a replacement for wheat in diets for weaned pigs

The nutritional value of triticale for weaned pigs is poorly characterized. Six mash diets containing either 66.5% one of two wheat samples or one of four winter or spring triticale cultivars were fed to 72 pens of weaned pigs for 28 d. Average daily feed intake and gain did not differ between pigs fed wheat and triticale diets (P > 0.05). Replacing wheat with triticale increased feed efficiency by 0.02 for spring triticale and 0.03 for winter triticale (P < 0.001). Apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and gross energy was 1.2, 2.5, and 1.0% higher, respectively, for the triticale diets than the wheat diets (P < 0.05). The nutritional value of the four triticale samples was 1.5% higher for energy than the two wheat samples included in western Canada diets for weaned pigs. Key words: Digestibility, growth, triticale, weaned pig, wheat