This study was conducted to establish the extent to which different doses of pituitary porcine growth hormone (ppGH) increase pig growth performance. Pigs were treated daily for 11 wk with 0, 35 or 70 micrograms ppGH/kg BW. In addition, these effects were compared with those produced by treating pigs with 0, 35, 70 or 140 micrograms.kg BW-1.d-1 of a recombinantly derived analog of porcine growth hormone (rpGH). This analog lacks the first seven amino acids at the NH2 terminus. Growth rate was increased similarly by ppGH and rpGH (the maximal increase was 19%). Feed efficiency was improved by ppGH and rpGH (the maximal response was 25%). This improvement in feed efficiency was associated with a decrease in feed intake (17% with the largest dose of rpGH). Both ppGH and rpGH decreased adipose tissue growth and increased muscle mass. Carcass lipid was decreased by 68% in pigs treated with the largest dose of rpGH. The recombinant pGH analog appeared to be less potent than ppGH in decreasing adipose tissue growth rate. All other parameters measured, however, indicated that rpGH mimicked the biological effects of ppGH (including binding to pig liver membranes and induction of insulin-like growth factor I production). Sensory panel evaluations indicated that neither ppGH nor rpGH affected pork palatability. Larger doses of pGH (greater than 70 micrograms/kg BW) adversely affected pig mobility. This impairment in mobility appears to be due to osteochondrosis. Our findings establish that the rpGH analog is equipotent to ppGH in stimulating growth performance and that pigs can be treated without any significant adverse effects when they are treated with less than 70 micrograms of pGH.kg BW-1.d-1.