This experiment was conducted to evaluate two different types of feed additive as an alternative for antibiotics on growth performance and feed cost in growing and finishing pigs. One additive is an herb extract, with Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) as the main component, while the other feed additive contains aminolevulinic acid (ALA). In the first experiment, 128 grower pigs were allotted to 4 different treatment groups and replicated 4 times with 8 pigs per replicate; the trial lasted for 28 days. The positive control group (PC) which is the control group supplemented with antibiotics was significantly higher (p＜0.05) in growth rate (580.6 g/d) followed by the ALA group (532.0 g/d), there was no significant differences in terms of feed intake and feed efficiency. There were marginal reductions in feed costs measured as feed cost per head in ALA and HE added diet. However, the feed cost per weight gain of ALA treatment was higher than the control group (PC) supplemented with antibiotics. In the second experiment, 80 finisher pigs were allotted to 4 treatment groups and replicated 4 times with 5 pigs per replicate; the trial lasted for 70 days. The treatment group supplemented with an herb extract (HE) had a significantly higher (p＜0.05) feed intake (2,415.8 g/d) compared to the other treatment groups, but there was no significant differences in terms of growth rate and feed efficiency. Feed cost per head in HE and ALA treatments were higher than PC treatment, and feed cost per weight gain of HE was higher than PC treat (p＜0.05). The results from these experiments suggests that these two types of feed additives can both be used as an alternative for antibiotics without having a negative effect on the performance of the animals. And aminolevulinic acid was good in performance and production cost of grower and finisher pigs.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of dietary Mogchotan(the mixture of charcoal and pyroligneous acid, 80:20, w/w) supplementation on fattening performance, fatty acid composition and the physico-chemical characteristics of meat in pigs. The present study was also stressed to investigate the possibility of industrial utilization of charcoal and pyroligneous acid as a livestock feed additive. Weight gain and feed conversion in pigs fed the Mogchotan supplemented diet were higher than those of the control group. In fatty acids composition, palmitic acid(C16:0) contents of Mogchotan treatment groups were lower than that of control group. However, Mogchotan supplementation increased C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 contents when compared with control group pigs. Also, Mogchotan supplementation groups decreased saturated fatty acids level than control group. On the other hand, Mogchotan supplementation showed higher unsaturated fatty acids value, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids value compared to control group. The carcass pH of pigs fed the Mogchotan tended to be higher than control, but was not significantly different. The water holding capacity was significantly higher in pigs fed the 3.0% Mogchotan-supplemented diet than those of other treatment groups(p＜0.05). Altogether, it has been suggested that dietary 1~3% of Mogchotan supplementation improved the fattening performance and meat quality in pigs.

This study was conducted to assess the nutritional value and the safety of the fermented food wastes (FFW) made by adding lactobacillus spp. and bacillus spp. at the ratio of 3:7, respectively to food wastes collected everywhere, and also to determine effects on the performances, carcass characteristics and economical profitability when FFW was fed to pigs. For swine trial, FFW was formulated to pellet by utilizing different feed ingredients, and its formulated FFW pellet was used in this feeding trial. Treatments were consisted of different ratios (T1:100+0%, T2: 75+25%, T3: 50+50%, T4: 25+75%, T5: 0+100%) of FFW pellet to commercial diet. A total of 20 male pigs were allotted to treatments of five groups of four pigs per pen. Experimental period lasted for 4 months. The nutritional composition of FFW was 56.7, 19.5 and 19.5% for moisture, crude protein and ether extract, respectively. Salt content was 0.39%. Noxious microorganisms such as salmonella and E. coli were not detected in FFW, and contents of heavy metal and aflatoxin B1 were lower than the standard. Nutritional values of FFW pellet satisfied over 100% of requirements presented in official Korean feeding standard for swine. Feeding trial for pigs showed that feed intakes were significantly (P＜0.05) decreased with increasing levels of FFW pellet. T2 treatment was ideal ratio under the consideration of economical value of feeds and body weight gain of pigs. For carcass characteristics, dressing rate (%) was highest in T3, and carcass grades for T2, T3 and T4 treatments were estimated as “A”. Feed cost for FFW per kg was ￦167.95, which implies 52% of commercial feed cost (￦350/㎏). Thus, this result implied the decreased feed cost in the swine farm. Con-clusively, the utilization of food wastes as feed source may lead to the reduced environmental pollution and the practice of organic livestock farming. However, our results showed that excessive amount of fermented food wastes supplementation to pigs might give rise to their reduced palatability and delayed growth.