Kim et al., 2001. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 14 (6): 821-830

A study was conducted on 150 crossbred pigs to examine the effects of partial replacement of soyabean meal (SBM) with palm kernel meal (PKM) and copra meal (CM) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass composition in finishing pigs. The pigs were grouped into 5 treatments in a randomized block design. The tretments were: (1) control, without PKM or CM; (2) PKM2, 2% PKM; (3)PKM4, 4% PKM; (4)CM2, 2% CM and (5)CM4, 4% CM. It was observed that growth performance was better in CM diets than in PKM or control diets during the early finishing and overall period, while ADG was lower (P<0.05) in PKM4 diet than other diets. The PKM or CM substituted diets showed lower (P<0.05) nutrient (amino acids) digestibilities compared with control diet during early and late finishing stages. Carcass length was longer (P<0.05) in pigs fed 2% CM than in 4% PKM. The inclusion of PKM or CM in the diet did not affect the total saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the backfat of finishing pigs. Supplementation of CM at 2 and 4% tended to decrease feed cost/kg weight gain by 2.89 to 1.42%, respectively. It is concluded that copra meal is a valuable source of protein in the diet for finishing pigs and may replace other protein sources in pig diets to a considerable extent.