Digestible lysine for barrows of genetic lines selected for meat deposition from 60 to 100 days of age

In order to evaluate the effects of dietary digestible lysine levels on performance and carcass traits of two genetic lines of pigs selected for meat deposition, from 60 to 100 days of age, a total of 120 crossbred barrows, with initial average body weight of 25.42 ± 2.08 kg were used. Pigs were allotted in a complete randomized block design, within a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement (four digestible lysine levels: 0.90, 1.00, 1.10, and 1.20%, and two genetic lines: A and B), with five replicates and three pigs per pen, which was the experimental unit. There was no interaction between genetic and digestible lysine levels for any variable of performance and carcass traits assessed. There was also no effect of digestible lysine levels in feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion. Digestible lysine intake of pigs increased linearly with increasing digestible lysine levels in the diets. Except for carcass yield that increased quadratically up to 1.04% estimate level of digestible lysine, there was no effect of lysine levels on the other carcass traits assessed (loin and ham yield, and amount of meat in the carcass). The digestible lysine level of 0.90%, corresponding to an estimated daily intake of 19.10 g, meets the requirements of castrated male pigs selected for meat deposition from both genetic lines, from 60 to 100 days of age.