1. Introduction
Wild pig (Sus scrofa) production is currently of interest for
Thai farmers. However, the slow growth rate of these pigs is of
concern, contributing to rather poor production efficiencies. As
suboptimal levels of dietary calciumare suspected as a possible
cause for the suboptimal growth rate, increasing the calcium
level in diets forwild pigsmight increase calciumretention and
thus the growth rate of the pigs. As our preliminary study,
there was a trend of improving growth performance and
utilization of dry matter, fat and ash when young pigs fed on
diets containing high calcium and lecithin (2.5% of calciumand
2% of lecithin in as-fed diet). However, higher calcium levels
may also have a negative effect, as earlier reports (Atteh and
Leeson, 1983; Ajakaiye et al., 2003) in chicken show that
dietary calcium can form calcium soaps with fatty acids
resulting in lower digestion and absorption of fat and calcium.
Such a negative effect could possibly be counteracted by the
addition of an emulsifier to the diet. For example, adding
lecithin to commercial pig diets has been reported to improve
fat or fatty acid utilisation by the pigs (Jones et al., 1992;
Wieland et al., 1993). This might be explained by the
emulsifying properties of lecithin. Additionally, lecithin may
be beneficial because it supports the restoration of gut
morphology after damage. Therefore, the present study was
conducted to investigate the effect of an increased calcium
level with or without lecithin supplement on growth performance
and morphology of the small intestine in wild pigs.