Growth performance of weaned pigs fed different levels of starfish meal

Starfish meal (SM) was fed in different concentrations to 4952 piglets from 6 kg to assess the effect on animal performance when fed under commercial conditions. Performance was evaluated at low (L-SM), medium (M-SM) and high (H-SM) SM-levels compared with fishmeal (FM). The experimental period was divided into three two-week phases. Pigs received 5, 7.5 and 100 g/kg SM, and 50 g/kg FM in phase 1. In phase 2, SM and FM were halved. In phase 3, all pigs received the same diet without SM to study compensatory growth. Similar ADG and ADFI was found for pigs fed FM and L-SM in all phases. The ADG of pigs was significantly lower when feeding diets with M-SM and H-SM compared with FM and L-SM in both phase 1 and 2 (P < 0.001), and the ADFI of L-SM-fed pigs was greater than for pigs fed M-SM and H-SM in phase 1 (P = 0.015), whereas in phase 2, the ADFI of pigs receiving M-SM and H-SM was significantly lower compared with the other two treatments (P < 0.001). In phase 3, pig growth was similar on all treatments. M-SM and H-SM gave compensatory growth in phase 3. Piglets can be fed 50 g/kg SM with good results, but greater inclusion levels may cause growth reduction.