Assessing Whey to Reduce Feed Cost
Deproteinized whey permeate is a by-product of the cheese-making industry. Depending on the type of cheese being produced it can be categorized as “sweet whey” or “acid whey”, the latter contains about 4.7% organic acids. The objective of this experiment was to determine the response of weanling pigs to 0, 8, 12 or 16% whey in their drinking water and determine if the organic acids supplied in the acid whey provided additional benefit. Diets were formulated to account for the nutrients in the whey based on intakes from a previous experiment. Supplying up to 16% whey in the drinking water increased caloric intake and improved growth rate. Depending primarily on the cost of transporting the whey to the farm, it may be an economical supplement for weanling pigs.
