A total of 84 sows (PIC Line 1050) were blocked according to day of farrowing and parity and allotted in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments with lactation feed intake (ad libitum vs. restricted) and creep feeding (no vs. yes) as factors. Sows fed for ad libitum intake (ad libitum-fed) were allowed free access to a common lactation diet (3,503 kcal of ME/kg, 0.97% standardized ileal dig...

The study was conducted to compare the effects of feeding Acacia auriculata (AA), Gmelina arborea (GA), Albizia lebbeck (AL) and Butryospermum parkii (BP) tree forages as a sole feed for Nigerian goats. Four goats (Yankasa) averaging one year and weighing 11.7±1.8 kg were used to measure the feed intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance. The leaves were offered ad libitum. Dry matter (DM) int...

Residual feed intake (RFI), defined as the difference in the observed and expected feed intake while accounting for growth and backfat, has gained much attention, but little is known about why pigs selected for reduced RFI are more efficient. To this end, a line of Yorkshire pigs selected for reduced RFI was developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the 5th generation of this selec...

There is a paucity of literature characterizing response to varying levels of feed intake in goats. A controlled experiment was designed at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) with purebred goats, to measure feed intake, and its subsequent effects on growth of different goat genotypes when raised intensively. Two goat populations, the Spanish (SP) and the Tennessee Stiff-legged (TS) were fed th...

Improvement of feed efficiency can be achieved by genetic selection directly on feed to BW gain ratio or for alternative traits. In the present study, 2 different traits were explored in the growing rabbit and their heritability and genetic correlations with traits recorded between weaning (30 d) and 63 d of age: i) residual feed intake (RFI), to select animals having low ad libitum feed intake...

Two feedlot trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding frequency (once daily in the morning, once daily in the afternoon or twice daily) and feeding level (ad libitum, 95% of ad libitum, or 90% of ad libitum) on the feedlot performance and carcass composition of beef steers. Data were collected using 196 yearling beef steers. In both trials cattle fed once daily in the morning ten...

Reduction of dietary crude protein (CP) with amino acid supplementation has been effective in reducing the cost of poultry feed. However, the performance of broilers declines when CP levels reaches a point and can not be totally restored with amino acid supplementation. This study was conducted to determine if differences in feed intake were responsible for the reduced performance at low protei...

Two digestion trials were conducted with seven crossbred, abomasally cannulated yearling steers (400 kg) to study the effect of level of feed intake on the site and extent of feed and microbial protein digestion. Steers, in a crossover design experiment, were fed an 81.5% steam-processed flaked (SPF) sorghum grain diet at either 95% (four steers) or 75% (three steers) of their ad libitum intake...

Forty Najdi ram lambs weighing 26.6±0.3 kg were utilized in this experiment to determine the effects of feed restriction followed by realimentation and body weight at the onset of feed restriction (30 and 36 kg body weights) on performance and carcass characteristics; feeding and restriction levels were ad libitum, 0.75 and 0.60 of the ad libitum intake. All lambs were slaughtered after 14 week...