Out-of-Feed Events and Gastric Ulcers in Finishing Pigs fed 40% air-Classified pea Starch Diets.

Abstract Air-classified pea starch (ACPS), a new feed ingredient, that is very fine and may contribute to bridging and the formation of gastric ulcers in pigs, especially if combined with extended feed outage event. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a feed-out duration event in finishing pigs fed 40% ACPS diets, on gastric ulcers and animal growth parameters. A 28-d trial was performed utilizing 90 pigs with initial BW of 90.6±2.2 kg, housed in groups of 5 in a complete randomized design. A control group of pigs were also fed standard production diets without ACPS. A total of four treatments consisting of a control group (no ACPS) that had continuous access to standard feed, and an ACPS diet group exposed to 0h, 16h and 24h feed-out events. After d 28, 3 pigs/pen from the pigs fed ACPS diets were sent to a commercial abattoir and their stomach tissues harvested. Lesions in the pars oesophagea were scored on a scale of 0 to 4. Pigs fed the ACPS diets tended to have a higher BW (P < 0.09) compared to the control pigs by d 7. However, there was no difference on the overall BW (P>0.09). ADG was higher (P < 0.05) in pigs fed the ACPS diets in the initial 7 days than the control pigs. Overall ADFI in pigs fed ACPS diets were higher (P < 0.05) than the control pigs. The overall G:F was reduced in the ACPS-fed pigs. The 0h, 16h and 24h out of feed events produced 83%, 91% and 100% ulcers respectively. With the average ulcer scores being 1.8, 2.3 and 2.0 for the 0h, 16h and 24h, respectively. In conclusion, feeding 40% ACPS diets resulted in a high incidence of ulcers and 16h feed outage results in the highest severity.