Partial replacement of soybean meal with different protein sources in piglet feed during the nursery phase

Objective: Evaluate the partial replacement of soybean meal with different protein sources in piglet feed during the nursery phase in terms of digestibility of feed, nitrogen balance, growth performance and blood parameters. Methods: Experiment I involved 24 crossbred entire male pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 18.28 [+ or -] 0.7 kg and used a randomized complete block design consisting of 3 treatments (fish meal, FM; soybean protein concentrate, SPC; and soybean meal, SBM) and 8 replicates, with 1 pig per experimental unit. Experiment II involved 1,843 crossbred male and female pigs with an initial BW of 6.79 [+ or -] 0.90 kg and was based on a completely randomized design with a 2x3 factorial arrangement (2 sexes and 3 protein sources) and 13 replicates. Results: The results of Exp. I indicate effects (p