No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2017
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is frequently added to nursery piglet diets at pharmacological levels to combat scouring and to improve performance of weaned piglets (Miller and Slade, 2006). It is anecdotally recognized in the pig industry that piglets do not like the taste of zinc although increased feed intake is frequently reported (Ragland et al., 2006). Dietary selection studies have demonstrated the ability of the pig to discriminate between different foods (Forbes and Kyriazakis, 1995). This experiment aimed to test the hypothesis that weaned piglets would avoid a diet high in ZnO when given the choice, and to investigate the resultant performance and choice feeding behaviour of individual piglets in the immediate post weaning period.