Salmon protein hydrolysate as a protein source in feed for young pigs

Salmon protein hydrolysate (SPH) is made from fresh by-products from farmed salmon that are minced and acidified to hydrolyse proteins into peptides and free amino acids. The objective of this study was to evaluate SPH in young pigs compared to soy protein concentrate (SPC), fish meal (FM) and combinations hereof. Five diets were composed, all fulfilling the nutrient recommendations for young pigs. All diets contained 172 g soy bean meal/kg. One diet was supplemented with 123 g SPH/kg, and equivalent protein was supplied as SPC or FM in two other diets. Two diets were composed by combining half the amount of SPH and SPC or half the amount of SPH and FM. One week after weaning, one hundred individually housed pigs were allocated to one of five diets (n = 20) and fed ad libitum for four weeks. Pigs fed the SPH and SPH + FM diets ate 12–14% more (P<0.05) than pigs fed the SPC diet, but the results on gain and feed utilization was not significantly different among treatments. No differences were observed in faeces characteristics when scored by visual judgment during two 5-d periods. In conclusion, pigs responded equally to diets containing SPH and FM, and SPH resulted in greater feed intake than SPC.