Influence of Dietary Protein Levels on Growth Performance and Blood Biochemical Profile in Crossbred Pigs (Hampshire x Assam Local)

A study was conducted using twenty four crossbred pigs (Hampshire × Assam local) of 2–3 months of age with average body weight of 11.0 kg to assess the effect of four dietary protein levels on growth performance and blood biochemical parameters. Four concentrate mixtures having 18, 19.8, 16.2 and 14.4% CP were fed to the animals in treatments T₁ (control), T₂, T₃ and T₄, respectively for 90 days. All the diets were isocaloric containing 3170 kcal ME/kg diet. Blood parameters viz., serum total protein, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum albumin, globulin along with albumin-globulin ratio were determined at monthly interval. Body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein conversion efficiency (PER) and cost of production were assessed fortnightly. At 0, 30, 60 and 90 days, the level of BUN (mg/dl) and serum total protein showed significant difference (P<0.05) at initial as well as at final stage of experiment in different groups. Significantly (P<0.05) lower level of serum albumin was observed in group T₄ than other groups. The level of serum globulin and albumin-globulin ratio did not change due to different protein levels. The average daily gain was lower (P<0.05) in group T₄ (255.5g) compared to other groups (307.40, 271.29 and 333.33 g in T₁, T₂ and T₃), though the feed intake in different groups was similar. The cost per kg gain in live weight was the lowest in T₃ ( 47.75) group compared to other groups ( 60.01, 61.00 and 67.65 in groups T₁, T₂ and T₄). It was concluded that growing Hampshire crossbred pigs can be reared on 16.2% protein and 3170 kcal/kg ME diets without any adverse effect on blood constituents and growth performance.