Hammer milled and differently rolled barley for growing pigs

The effects of grinding method of barley on the apparent faecal digestibility, rate of passage through the gastrointestinal tract, protein utilization responses and growth performance of growing pigs were assayed in two separate experiments. Barley was ground by a hammer mill and by three different rolling mills into fine and coarse batches. Digestibility of dry matter and energy, daily gain and the feed conversion ratio of rolled barley was as good for rolled as hammer milled barley when the roller gap was set properly. The grinding method affected N-excretion without any change in N-utilization. It was concluded that palatability had a greater effect than digestibility on pig performance.