Carcass characteristics of crossbred Hampshire pig fed on poultry by-products

An experiment was conducted to study the effects of the inclusion of poultry by-product meal in the ration of pig replacing the fish meal at different levels viz.50% and 100% on the carcass characteristics in Crossbred Hampshire pigs.A total of Eighteen (18) weaned Crossbred Hampshire pigs (9 castrated male and 9 female) with an average age of 8 weeks and average body weight of 11.110.02kg were selected from an institutional pig farm (30-Sow Teaching Unit) under the Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati-22.The trial was conducted for 150 days, from 15 th October 2021 to 14 th March 2022.The piglets were divided into three treatment groups depending upon the nearness of body weight and age in such a manner that each treatment will consist of six pigs(3 males and 3 females in each group) viz.groups C, T1, and T2.The animals under T1 group were provided with Standard conventional feed with 2.5%, T2 group with 5% inclusion of poultry by-product meal replacing 50% and 100%of fish meal respectively.However, the control group was provided with standard conventional feed without the inclusion of poultry by-products.The Live weight (kg), Slaughter weight (kg), Hot Carcass weight (kg), chilled Carcass weight (kg), Hot dressing percentage (%), chilled dressing percentage (%), Carcass length (cm), Back fat thickness(cm), and Loin eye area (cm 2 ) showed nonsignificant difference among different groups.Wholesale cuts (ham, bacon, loin, picnic, Boston butt, and jowl) showed non-significant differences among the groups.The edible and inedible offal also did not differ significantly (P>0.01).Thus it can be concluded that the inclusion of poultry by-products up to 5% level in the pig ration replacing fish meal may be recommended in terms of growth and economic production without any adverse effect on general performance.