Supplementation of L-Carnitine and paylean improve growth performance of pigs in a commercial finishing facility

Kansas State University Swine Research. Growth performance and standard carcass measurements were evaluated on 796 pigs fed dietary treatments of L-carnitine (0 or 50 ppm) and/or Paylean (0 or 9 g/ton) in a three-week experiment. Pigs fed Paylean had improved (P<0.01) ADG and F/G for the overall experiment. Growth performance of pigs fed carnitine also was improved (P<0.04) and was additive to the response of Paylean. Feeding carnitine did not affect (P>0.18) any of the carcass criteria in this experiment. Pigs fed Paylean had greater (P<0.01) carcass weight, fat free lean index, loin depth, percentage lean, and yield compared to pigs not fed Paylean. The combined growth performance results from our four research experiments evaluating L-carnitine (0 or 50 ppm) and/or Paylean (0 or 9 g/ton) suggest that Paylean improves (P<0.01) ADG and F/G and Lcarnitine tends to increase (P<0.07) ADG and improves (P<0.01) feed efficiency.