Utilisation of reactive lysine from meat and bone meals of different ash content by growing-finishing pigs

A growth experiment was conducted using 50 pigs (25-100 kg) to evaluate the use of meat and bone meals of different ash content as a substitute for soyabean meal (SBM) for growing pigs and the potential of 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (FDNB) reactive lysine in diet formulation. The control diet consisted of barley and SBM. For test diets, either 33 or 67% of SBM was replaced with meat and bone meal of low (ML, 205 g ash/kg) or high (MH, 349 g ash/kg) ash content. SBM, ML33, ML67, MH33 and MH67 diets contained 7.8, 7.8, 8.2, 7.8 and 7.9 g FDNB-reactive lysine/feed unit (feed unit is equivalent to 9.3 MJ NE), respectively. For these diets, average daily live weight gains (ADG) were 859, 830, 805, 854 and 813 g/d with feed conversion ratios of 2.25, 2.40, 2.41, 2.31 and 2.44 feed units/kg, respectively. Pigs fed the SBM diet grew faster (P