Effect of particle size and addition of sunflower hulls to diets on the occurrence of oesophagogastric lesions and performance in growing-finishing pigs

Effects of fibre content in pelleted wheat and oats diets on technical pellet quality and nutritional value for broiler chickens

“…This hypothesis is supported by the breaking strength data, which showed that breaking strength was similar between diets with fine and coarse oats hulls. This observation, however, is contradictory to results obtained by Dirkzwager (1998), where addition of coarse particles, such as sunflower hulls, had a negative influence on breaking strength, and results obtained by Svihus et al (2004) where the coarsely ground wheat resulted in lower breaking strength of pellets than finely ground wheat. This is probably related to the dispersion of coarse fibres into feed matrixes and the network formation, acting as reinforcement between feed components.…”

Evaluating pellet and meal feeding regimens on finishing pig performance, stomach morphology, and carcass characteristics1,2

“…This was done to reduce the negative impact of the DDGS on carcass yield and fat iodine value but may have increased the fluidity of the stomach contents. Dirkzwager et al (1998) observed that pigs fed a diet with added fiber had a reduced incidence of gastric ulcers compared with those fed a diet without added fiber. Although all pigs in the present study were fed identical diets during each phase of the study, it should be noted that pigs were fed a diet lower in ADF and NDF (no DDGS) in the last phase of the study compared with those in previous dietary phases.…”

“…The increase in fluidity of the stomach contents appears to lead to increased incidences of ulceration. Dirkzwager et al (1998) and Mößeler et al (2014) noted that the pH of the stomach was more consistent in all 4 regions when compared with pigs fed a coarse meal diet. This may indicate that there is increased mixing of stomach contents when a pelleted diet is fed, most likely as a result of the increased fluidity of the stomach contents.…”

How to assess particle size distribution in diets for pigs?

“…Also, advantages were demonstrated in field studies concerning piglets (Offenberg, 2007) and slaughtering pigs as well (Visscher et al, 2009). Moreover, not only in fattening pigs, but also in sows, gastric ulcers represent an intrinsic cause of higher loss rates (Dirkzwager et al 1998;Vestergaard et al, 2006). Besides, these observations considering the grinding intensity of ingredients in mixed diets stimulated an interest concerning the effects on digestibility in the prececal part of the GIT and on pellet stability.…”