Effect of early surgical castration and immune castration on postprandial nutrient profiles in male pigs

摘要

Rearing of entire males (EM) or immunologically castrated male (IC) pigs are two alternatives to surgical castration. Male pigs eat less and exhibit higher growth performance and feed efficiency than early surgically castrated pigs (SC). Late castration by immunization against gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a relevant strategy to maintain growth performance and prevent the accumulation of molecules responsible for boar taint in meat (Millet et al, 2011). Indeed, IC pigs are similar to EM until immunization is effective. Despite large differences in feed efficiency between EM and SC pigs, the mechanisms involved in these differences have been poorly investigated (Claus et al, 2007). The current study was undertaken to determine whether difference in feed efficiency between SC, IC and EM pigs can be explained by difference in nutrient utilization after a meal by measuring postprandial profiles of plasma nutrient and hormone concentrations.