Nutrition Notes Use Of DL-Methionine In Holding Late-Finishing Pigs Facebook Twitter LinkedIn By James Smith, Ph.D., Senior Technical Swine Nutritionist Michael Edmonds, Ph.D., Vice President, Swine and Poultry Nutrition In the event of any market suspension that requires slowing the growth of finishing pigs, pork producers need dependable and economical diets that can reduce growth while maintaining carcass quality. Studies conducted at the Kent Research Farm have resulted in the development of four feeding regimens to reduce feed intakes over a 35 day period through the use of various levels of supplemental Methionine. Regimen 1 – To achieve a daily gain of about 1.5 lb/day, add Methionine at 1% of the diet. Regimen 2 – To achieve a daily gain of about 1 lb/day, add Methionine at 1% of the diet during week 1. Then add 1.2% Methionine during week 2; 1.4% Methionine during week 3, 1.6% Methionine during week 4 and 1.8% Methionine during week 5. Regimen 3 – To achieve a daily gain of about 0.6 lb/day, add Methionine at 2% of the diet. Alternatively, the addition of Methionine at 1.5% of the diet during week 1 followed by 1.7, 1.9, 2.1 and 2.3% Methionine during weeks 2-5, respectively. Regimen 4 – To achieve none or very little gain, add Methionine at 2% of the diet during week 1. Then add 2.2% Methionine during week 2; 2.4% Methionine during week 3, 2.6% Methionine during week 4 and 2.8% Methionine during week 5. Literature CitedEdmonds, M. S., and J. W. Smith II. 2021. Amino acidimbalance with excess methionine in late-finishing pigs: effects on performance and carcass quality Transl. Anim. Sci. 5:1-11. doi:10.1093/tas/txab197. Download PDF Related Nutrition Notes Amino Acid Imbalance with Excess Methionine in Late-Finishing Pigs: Effects on Performance and Carcass Quality The outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the spring of 2020, resulted in the shutdown of numerous pork harvest facilities across the country. This resulted in many complications in the… Read More Supplemental Chromax ® in Grow-Finish Pigs Developing and evaluating products and feed programs to help producers raise pork more efficiently is an ongoing effort at the Kent Research Farm. Chromium is a trace mineral that helps… Read More Selisseo (Hydroxy-Selenomethionine): Effects on the Immune System in Swine Developing feeding strategies to help reduce the negative effects of stress on swine is an ongoing challenge. Stressful conditions can increase what are called reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can… Read More Want to learn more from KNG research? Give us your email address to be notified when we publish new Nutrition Notes articles.