Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station Lafayette, Indiana
Mimeo AS-303 August, 1961
THE FREE-CHOICE AND RESTRICTED FEEDING OF LOW AND HIGH-MOISTURE CORN PRESERVED WITH ANTIBIOTICS AND SODIUM PROPIONATE 1/
D. M. Hendricks, J. H. Conrad, B. Virgin and V/. M. Beeson Department of Animal Science
Summary of Results:
1.	Pigs fed high-moisture shelled corn gained slightly faster than pigs fed low-moisture shelled corn--1.30 pounds daily vs. 1.25 pounds daily (Table 4). The treatments of high-moisture shelled corn with zinc bacitracin (Lots 2 and 5) and zinc bacitracin plus sodium propionate (Lots 3 and 6) had equal effects on daily gain.
2.	Pigs fed high-moisture corn (on
a moisture equivalent basis) consumed more corn and required more corn (5.2 percent more in Lots 2 and 5 and 7. 9 percent more in Lots 3 and 6) per 100 pounds gain and more total feed per 100 pounds of gain than pigs fed low-moisture corn.
3.	Pigs fed high-moisture corn plus zinc bacitracin and sodium propionate (Lots 3 and 6) consumed less supplement but more corn than pigs on the other two treatments (Lots 1, 2, 4 and 5).
4.	On a restricted feeding basis (Table 3), the pigs fed high-moisture corn gained faster and required the same amount of total feed per 100 pounds of gain (on a moisture equivalent basis) as the pigs fed low-moisture corn. On a free-choice basis, the pigs fed high-moisture corn gained only
slightly faster and required substantially more total feed than the pigs fed low-moisture corn.
5.	This is an 84-day progress report, and these data may change so that different conclusions may be found at the end of the experiment when the lots average 200 pounds per pig.
6.	Between the lots on restricted feeding (a more critical analysis of nutritional value than free-choice feeding), there are slight differences in gain and feed required per 100 pounds. Therefore, there seems to be little or no difference between the nutritional value of high and low-moisture corn. Rather, the merit of high-moisture corn is that it gives the feeder an alternative and efficient method of handling and storing corn.
Research with High-moisture Corn
Interest in high-moisture ensiled shelled corn continues because of the obvious mechanical and storage advantages of this method. Initial research indicated high-moisture corn was not used as efficiently by swine as was dry shelled corn. (In contrast, beef cattle use high-moisture corn just as efficiently as dry corn.) In later research, the addition of zinc bacitracin or of sodium propionate to
1/ The research reported in this mimeograph was supported in part by grants-in-aid from the Commercial Solvents Corporation, Terre Haute, Indiana, and by the A. O. Smith Corporation, Kankakee, Illinois, who furnished the Harvestores for storing the high-moisture corn. The zinc bacitracin and sodium propionate ■ were supplied by the Commercial Solvents Corporation.