The Effects of Dietary Chicory and Reduced Nutrient Diets on Composition and Odor of Stored Swine Manure1

Two experiments were conducted to examine the impact of dietary chicory on growth performance and odor of stored swine manure. In Exp. 1, 180 nursery pigs (10.6 ± 2 kg BW) were used in a 21-d experiment to evaluate the effects of replacing corn with chicory (0.5 to 10.0%) on pig performance. Overall, ADG increased (linear; P < 0.02) and ADFI tended to increase (P < 0.10) as the level of chicory increased in the diet. This effect was primarily due to numerically reduced performance when pigs were fed 0.5 or 1.0% chicory, with growth similar for pigs fed 0, 5, or 10%. In Exp. 2, 12 barrows (initially 59 ± 3 kg BW) were fed each of 4 experimental diets during four 10-d periods in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design to compare nutrient excretion and odor analysis of pigs fed 1) conventional corn-soybean meal diet; 2) diet formulated to minimize nutrient excretion; 3) diet 1 with 10% chicory; and 4) diet 2 with 10% chicory. Feces and urine were collected and measured for N, S, and P excretion and retention, as well as for odor and gas analyses. Pigs fed diets formulated to reduce nutrient excretion had less (P < 0.001) total N and P excretion and had simulated slurry with reduced (P < 0.001) pH and less (P < 0.001) S, N, and ammonia. The addition of chicory to the diet also reduced (P < 0.03) N and P excretion. In conclusion, chicory can be fed to pigs to reduce nutrient excretion while maintaining growth performance.