Digestive characterization and its relationship with digestibility, performance traits of local breed Mexican Cuino mini-pigs

The effect of sex on the characteristics of the digestive tract and its relationship with the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and performance traits was studied in 14 Mexican Cuino (MC) mini-pigs averaging 57.2 ± 8.1 kg, fed ad libitum a diet based on sorghum and soybean meal. Nitrogen ATTD was significantly better in females than in castrated male pigs. A trend was found for the relative weight of the entire digestive tract to be heavier in castrated males than in female pigs. Large intestine contribution to total digestive tract weight was relatively high in both sexes, 48.7 and 50.8%, respectively, for castrated males and females. A significant, though not strong relationship between large intestine relative weight and ATTD of dry matter (DM) was observed. These results indicate that sex would appear to be a factor influencing digestive processes in MC mini-pigs.