Relationships of weight gain and behavior to digestive organ weight and enzyme activities in piglets.

Organ weights and digestive enzyme contents of the pancreas, stomach and duodenum were measured in 75 nursing piglets at 21 d of age. Piglets were given creep feed from 10 d of age. Creep feed intake was less than 1.5 g.d-1.piglet-1 up to d 18; on d 19 and 20 it averaged 15 g.d-1.piglet-1. On d 10, piglets went to the feeder more frequently than on the following days. Feeding bouts were longer on d 16, 17 and 18 just prior to the increase in creep feed consumption. Means and SE for the parameters studied at 21 d of age were 7.01 +/- .18 mg for pancreas weight; 61,499 +/- 4,091 units of amylase (UA) and 1,510 +/- 110 UA/mg DNA; 2,962 +/- 189 units of chymotrypsin (UC) and 68.94 +/- 3.92 UC/mg DNA; 8.76 +/- .35 g for fundic mucosa weight; 558,875 +/- 49,287 units of pepsin (UP) and 12,338 +/- 1,175 UP/mg DNA; 1.75 +/- .06 g for duodenum weight; 1.39 +/- .07 units of maltase (UM) and .14 +/- .006 UM/mg DNA. Day-0 weight was not correlated with 21-d gain. Feeding behaviors were correlated positively with 21-d gains. Feeding behaviors and behaviors were correlated positively to pancreas total and specific enzyme contents as well as to stomach and duodenum weights, RNA/DNA ratios of the pancreas and the stomach and protein/DNA of the pancreas but were correlated negatively with specific and total pepsin and maltase activities. Variation was large in enzyme activities (cv = 35 to 82%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)