EvaPig® creates diets using both the reference ingredients and the user-defined ingredients. The diets are stored in a database and can be compared graphically.
When the ingredients of a diet are unknown, it is possible to calculate the energy values of the diet using its chemical composition. However, diets created that way are not saved in the database.
The Diets button in the main menu opens the list of diets below. This list is empty when you use EvaPig® for the first time: diets are created and maintained by the user.
The names of the diets are shown on the left panel while the corresponding values are grouped on the right panel under separate tabs.
Figure 14. List of diets
- Use the vertical scroll bar and the navigation keys (Arrow up, Arrow down, Page up, Page down, Home and End) to browse through the list.
- Use the horizontal scroll bar to see a diet name in full if it is truncated.
- Click on, or scroll to, a diet to select it.
The following buttons are available:
- View : opens the full list of nutrients for the selected diet.
- Double -clicking on the selected diet achieves the same result
- Create : opens the diet creation form.
- Graphs : opens the diet comparison graphs.
- Calculator : opens the form for calculating diet energy values from chemical composition.
- Close : closes the window.
- You can also use the Escape (Esc) key
By default, the list is sorted by ascending date of creation (the oldest diets on top). Clicking on the header sorts the list by alphabetical order.
Each data tab shows a group of related nutrients. The units used are those chosen in the Units preferences screen.
- Click on the tab to see the data for the current (selected) diet.
- When a tab contains many elements, use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars.
- Click on a nutrient header to sort the table by ascending order or the nutrient values.
The tabs are organised as follows:
- Dry matter : the dry matter value here is always expressed on the as-fed basis.
- Proximate analysis : it contains the main chemical nutrients: dry matter, ash, protein, crude fat, crude fibre, the Van Soest fibre analysis (NDF, ADF, ADL), starch and sugars.
- Energy utilization : ratios of energy values (including energy digestibility) for growing and adult pigs.
- The letters g and a indicate (in DEg for instance) that the value is for growing and adult pigs respectively.
- dE is the digestibility of energy
- DE, ME and NE are respectively the digestible energy, the metabolizable energy and the net energy.
- Energy values for growing (DEg, MEg, NEg) and adult (DEa, MEa, NEa) pigs.
- Total amino acids expressed as % or g/kg of diet weight
- Digestible amino acids : ileal standardised digestible amino acids
- Minerals : total calcium, total phosphorus and digestible phosphorus values
The diet view is called up by selecting a diet in the list of diets and then by double-clicking on the selection or clicking on the View button.
Figure 15. Diet view
The diet view shows the chemical and nutritional values of the selected diet, calculated from the values of its ingredients.
In addition to the values shown for the ingredients themselves, it also displays the following information:
- Physical form of the diet: pellet or mash
- Calcium / digestible phosphorus ratio
- Digestible phosphorus / net energy ratio
- Adult / growing pig energy ratios for DE, ME and NE
- Digestible lysine / net energy ratio
- Digestible amino acid profile expressed relatively to the digestible lysine: digestible amino acid / digestible lysine ratio (x 100) for each amino acid (ideal protein concept)
The following buttons are available:
- Modify : opens the diet modification form.
- Delete : deletes the current diet (after asking for confirmation from the user).
- Graphs : opens the diet graphs for the current diet.
- Print : sends the data to the printer.
- PDF : exports the data to a PDF file.
- CSV : exports the data to a comma-separated file.
- Close : closes the window
- You can also use the Escape (Esc) key.
To create a new diet, click on the Create button in the list of diets. The following form appears:
Figure 16. Diet creation: choosing the name and the template
- Name the diet
- If you want to use the ingredient composition of an existing diet as a template, click on the corresponding checkbox and pick a diet in the drop-down list.
- Add a comment (optional)
- Click on the OK button to validate or click on Cancel to stop the creation.
Clicking on the OK button opens the Diet modification form.
The diet modification form is called up by clicking on the OK button in the Diet creation form or by clicking on the Modify button in the Diet view.
Figure 17. Diet creation and modification: choosing the ingredients and the incorporation rates
The purpose of this form is to create or modify a diet by adding and removing ingredients, and by setting their incorporation rates.
- The left panel shows the full list of ingredients.
- The right panel shows the list of ingredients of the current diet
To add and remove ingredients from the diet, use the horizontal blue arrows as follows:
| |
 |
Adds the selected ingredient to the diet |
| |
 |
Removes the selected ingredient from the diet |
| |
 |
Replaces the selected ingredient from the diet by the selected ingredient from the full list |
To change the order of the diet ingredients, use the vertical blue arrows and the sorting icons as follows:
| |
 |
Moves the selected ingredient one position up the list |
| |
 |
Moves the selected ingredient one position down the list |
| |
 |
Sorts the list by alphabetical order |
| |
 |
Sorts the list by decreasing incorporation rate |
After adding a new ingredient to the diet, you can:
- Change the dry matter content of the ingredient, replacing the original value by your own.
- Add the incorporation rate for the ingredient.
- The sum of the incorporation rates for all the ingredients should be equal to 100%. The Total field shows the current total incorporation rate (including phytase)
- The Remainder field shows the difference between 100% and the current sum of incorporation rates.
- If the sum is different from 100%, a message will appear but the diet will be created nonetheless.
The diet value can be modified by the following elements:
- Physical form : pick Mash (default) or Pellet in the drop-down list.
- The diet value for phosphorus digestibility will be calculated from phosphorus digestibilities for mashed or pelleted ingredients, depending on the choice above.
- Because the values for mashed ingredients are higher for certain ingredients due to the presence of active endogenous phytase (that is destroyed by pelleting), a mashed diet including one of these ingredients will have a higher content of digestible phosphorus than a pelleted diet.
- Phytase supplementation
- Click on the checkbox to activate phytase supplementation
- Choose a phytase type, defined as the phytase activity expressed in grams of digestible phosphorus released per 500 IU of phytase
- Choose a concentration, expressed in IU per gram of phytase
- Choose an incorporation rate, expressed in IU per kg of feed
- EvaPig® will calculate the quantity of phytase in the diet expressed in % as the incorporation rate / concentration / 10
- Energy bonus : choose an energy bonus for the growing pig and for the adult pig
Once the changes are done, click on the OK button to validate, or on the Cancel button to cancel the modifications.
The following buttons are available:
- Rename : renames the current diet.
- Comment : lets you add a comment to the diet.
- OK : validates the changes and opens the Diet view form.
- Cancel : cancels the changes and goes back the Diet view.
- When a diet is being created, using Cancel will only cancel the edition of the diet and will not cancel the diet itself. To delete a diet, go back to the diet view and click on the Delete button.
The diets comparison graphs are called by the Graphs button in the list of diets.
This form lets you compare up to 4 or 6 diets for the same nutrient.
Choose one of the following tabs to create a graph:
- Single graph
- Graphs comparison
The single graph displays on a bar chart the values of a single nutrient for 1 to 6 diets.
To create a single graph:
- Choose a group of criteria in the first drop-down list, then a nutrient from this group in the second drop-down list
- Choose the diets in the Diet #1-6 drop-down lists
Figure 18. Comparison of the net energy values of 6 diets
The following icons and buttons are available:
| |
 |
Gives the chart a 3D aspect |
| |
 |
Sends the chart to the printer |
| |
 |
Exports the chart to a PDF file |
| |
Close |
Closes the graphs comparison screen |
Because the bar chart starts at 0 on the Y axis, the chart may not clearly show the differences between diets: to highlight those differences, you can zoom in the chart by holding down the left mouse button (starting from the bottom left corner) and then drawing a rectangle around the area of interest. To zoom out, draw a rectangle starting from the bottom right corner.
Figure 19. Comparison of the net energy values of 6 diets after zooming in
The graphs comparison screen displays as bar charts the contributions of ingredients to the same nutrient for up to 4 diets.
To create a graphs comparison:
- Choose a group of criteria in the first drop-down list, then a nutrient from this group in the second drop-down list
- Choose the diets in the Diet #1-4 drop-down lists
Note: when longer than 30 characters the names of the ingredients are shortened for legibility.
Figure 20. Contributions of ingredients to the net energy of 4 diets
The diet graphs are called up by the Graphs button in the Diet View.
This form displays the contributions of the ingredients for a nutrient of the diet or let you compare the contributions of the ingredients for up to 4 nutrients.
Choose one of the following tabs to create a graph:
- Single graph
- Graphs comparison
The single graph displays on a pie chart the contributions of the ingredients for a single nutrient of the diet.
To create a single graph:
- Choose a group of criteria in the first drop-down list, then a nutrient from this group in the second drop-down list
Figure 21. Contributions of ingredients to the net energy of the diet
The graphs comparison screen displays as bar charts the contributions of ingredients for up to 4 nutrients.
To create a graphs comparison:
- For each Graph # 1-4, choose a group of criteria in the first drop-down list and then a nutrient from this group in the second drop-down list
Note: when longer than 30 characters the names of the ingredients are shortened for legibility.
Figure 22. Contributions of ingredients to the digestible amino acid content of the diet
The composition of a diet is sometimes unknown. EvaPig® provides a calculator that makes it possible to calculate the energy value of a diet using only its chemical composition. This calculator should not be used for predicting the energy value of ingredients.
- Important: unlike diets created using ingredients, diets created from chemical composition cannot be saved in the database.
The Energy calculator is called up by the Calculator button in the list of diets.
Figure 23. Energy calculator: choosing the dry matter
Creating a diet using chemical composition requires that the user provides a name for the diet and then several values.
- Dry matter : enter a value for the dry matter.
- You can choose a unit different from the default unit in the drop-down list next to the dry matter field.
- The choice of a dry matter value is mandatory as this value cannot be changed later.
- Click on the Next button to continue. This will validate the choice of the dry matter and will open the other chemical values for modification.
Figure 24. Energy calculator: choosing the chemical composition and gross energy
EvaPig® has to know certain values to calculate the energy values:
- In order to calculate digestible energy values, the user must provide values for at least ash, protein, fibre and either a fat or a gross energy value.
- In order to calculate metabolizable and net energy values, the user must provide values for at least ash, protein, fibre, fat and starch. The calculations will be made more accurate if gross energy and sugars are provided.
Step by step, the creation process requires the following values. Unlike ingredient creation, no value is mandatory. However, missing values can seriously limit the calculations and their accuracy.
- Ash: strongly recommended
- Protein : strongly recommended
- Fibre ( crude fibre (Weende method), NDF, or ADF): strongly recommended.
- OMDv ( in vitro organic matter digestibility): optional
- Fat : necessary to calculate metabolizable and net energy values.
- Gross energy: if you do not know the gross energy, you will need to give a fat value that will be used to predict the gross energy. Because fat has a high energy content relative to other constituents, it is not possible to predict an accurate gross energy value without it.
- Starch : mandatory to calculate metabolizable and net energy values.
- Without it, the calculation will stop at the digestible energy.
- Sugars : optional, but adds precision to the calculations
- Click on the View button to continue. This validates the previous choices and displays the calculated values.
Figure 25. Energy calculator: results
The following buttons are available:
- Print : sends the current ingredient data to the printer.
- PDF : exports the data to a PDF file.
- CSV : exports the current data to a comma-separated value file.
- Close : closes the window and returns to the entry form of the calculator.
- You can also use the Escape (Esc) key.