The Effects of Dietary Feather Meal Concentration on Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Barrows

1999 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Swine Report. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary feather meal level, as well as whether or not start weight influenced feather meal effects in growth performance and carcass traits of barrows. Dietary feather meal additions tended to decrease the final body weight variation of barrows. Barrows fed diets containing 20 percent feather meal from 80 pounds to slaughter had decreased average daily gain, average daily feed intake, digestible lysine intake, energy intake, daily lean gain and backfat depth. Barrows fed diets containing 10 percent feather meal from 190 pounds to slaughter had decreased average daily gain, average daily feed intake, digestible lysine intake, energy intake and backfat depth. The reduction in daily lean gain appears to be caused by decreased digestible lysine intake. Overall, feather meal can be used to reduce barrows feed intake, however, the dietary digestible lysine content should be adjusted.