Evaluating High Oil Corn and Normal Corn as Energy Sources in Nursery Pig Diets

Purdue University 1998 Swine Research Report. Due to selection and genetic engineering of corn, specialty hybrids have been developed, such as high oil corn. High oil corn (HOC) is a type of yellow corn that has a higher content of oil, and which therefore has more energy than normal corn. The higher lipid content of HOC could provide an alternative method of increasing the energy density of swine diets. This energy-packed corn could be beneficial to producers due to the limited nutrient intake of the young pig during the nursery phase. In turn, the energy dense diets have the potential to improve feed efficiency, which would be of economic value to the swine producer. The present study was conducted to evaluate HOC and normal corn as energy sources in nursery diets. One of the challenges in nursery diets is to balance for maximum feed intake and efficiency. This balance has been researched in previous studies conducted in the growing stage of pigs, but has not yet been thoroughly evaluated with HOC in nursery age pigs.