Feeding Value of Varying Levels of Corn and Cob Meal on Weaned Pigs

A total number of thirty-two (32) TN breed weaned pigs, aged 7 weeks having the average weight of 10.5 ± 0.5 kg were used to assess the feeding value of varying levels of corn and cob meal (CCM) on weaned pigs. The proximate composition and milling proportion of CCM were analyzed and its effect on growth response, nutrient digestibility, and blood parameters of weaned pigs fed varying levels. The acclimatization period of the pigs lasted for seven days and they were randomly allotted to four (4) dietary treatments with eight (8) pigs as replicates. The experiment was carried out for seven weeks. The experimental design was completely Randomized Design. The feed had 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% CCM in the diets tagged D1, D2, D3 and D4 respectively. 97.63% of whole maize were millable using hammer mill of 2 mm screen size. The proportion maize to cob was 89.25% to 10.75%. CCM significant influenced (p < 0.05) the feed intake and weight gain of the pigs. The crude fibre, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and ash digestibilities were significantly affected (p < 0.05). The packed cell volume, haemoglobin, red blood cell, neutrophils and lymphocytes count were significantly influenced (p < 0.05). The aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, albumin, glucose, urea, cholesterol and high density lipoprotein level were also significantly affected (p < 0.05). In conclusion, CCM in pig nutrition is considered favourable up to 10% inclusion level for optimum growth performance.