Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
Fifty entire male pigs between 7 and 28 days and 50 entire male pigs between 28 and 56 days of age' were given basal diets containing peanut meal as the protein supplement. These diets contained 4·5 to 6·1 g threonine per kg and were supplemented with graded additions of synthetic L-threonine.
It was found that the amount of threonine required for maximum performance and nitrogen retention was 6·6 g/kg dry matter (DM) between 7 and 28 days of age and 5·4 g/kg DM between 28 and 56 days of age. These values were calculated to correspond to 0·43 and 0·36 g threonine per MJ digestible energy.
The concentration of threonine in the blood plasma did not give a clear indication of the threonine requirement of the pigs.