Porcine feed intake of corn-soybean based diets supplemented with oil-extracted microalgae and subsequent performance

Oil-extracted microalgae are a coproduct of biofuel production and have potential to be used as an animal feed ingredient. Three studies were conducted to determine the performance of grower-finisher pigs fed corn-soybean meal based diets supplemented with microalgae. In study 1, 26 (8-wk-old) Duroc × Yorkshire-Landrace pigs were fed diets containing 0, 1, 2, or 4% microalgae for a 14-d grow-out period. Average daily gain, ADFI, and G:F were similar among all treatments (P > 0.05). Additionally, pellet durability indices were numerically improved for diets containing 4% microalgae compared with the control diet. Based on study 1 results, diets containing either 0 or 4% microalgae were selected to be replicated in study 2 and 3. In both studies, pigs fed diets with 4% microalgae had similar ADG, ADFI, and G:F compared with pigs fed the control (0% microalgae) diet (P > 0.10). Feeding diets containing the oil-extracted microalgae used in the current study had no detriment on palatability or performance of growing pigs up to 4%.