This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation with bacillus-based probiotic (Bacillus subtilis, 1.0×10 7 CFU/g; Bacillus coagulans, 2.0×10 6 CFU/g and Lactobacillus acidophilus, 5.0×10 6 CFU/g) on finishing pigs growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood characteristics and fecal noxious gas content and to determine the optimal addition level of this probiotic preparation. A total of forty eight pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 90.60±2.94 kg were allotted to three dietary treatments (four pigs per pen with four pens per treatment) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatment included: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) BP1 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.1%) and 3) BP2 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.2%). The experiment lasted 6 weeks. Through the entire experimental period, ADG was improved by 11% (p<0.05) in pigs fed diets supplemented with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic compared to pigs fed the basal diet. ADFI and gain/feed were not affected by the treatments (p>0.05). Supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic did not affect either DM and N digestibilities or blood characteristics (p>0.05) of pigs. Fecal ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) measured at the end of experiment was reduced (p<0.05) when pigs were fed the diet with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic. Fecal butyric acid concentration also decreased significantly (p<0.05) whereas acetic acid and propionic acid concentrations were not affected (p>0.05) when pigs were fed diets with added bacillus-based probiotic. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic can increase growth performance and decrease fecal noxious gas content concentration.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of dietary complex probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus, 1.0×10 7 CFU/g; Saccharomyces cerevisae, 4.3×10 6 CFU/g; Bacillus subtilis 2.0×10 6 CFU/g) on growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood characteristics and fecal noxious gas content in growing pigs. Ninety [(Duroc×Yorkshire)×Landrace] pigs with the average initial BW of 39.75±1.97 kg were allocated into three treatments by a randomized complete block design. There were five pens per treatment with six pigs per pen. Dietary treatments include: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) CP1 (basal diet+complex probiotic 0.1%) and 3) CP2 (basal diet+ complex probiotic 0.2%). During the entire experimental period of 6 weeks, results showed that addition of complex probiotic at the level of 0.2% to diet increased ADG significantly (p<0.05). Also, digestibilities of DM and N tended to increase, however, no significant differences were observed (p>0.05). Blood characteristics (IgG, Albumin, total protein, RBC, WBC and lymphocyte) of pigs were not affected (p>0.05) by complex probiotic supplementation. Fecal NH 3 -N was decreased (11.8%) significantly by the addition of complex probiotic (p<0.05), but no effects were observed on fecal acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations (p>0.05). In conclusion, results in this experiment indicated that dietary complex probiotic supplementation had a positive effect on growing pigs performance and could decrease fecal NH 3 -N concentration.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Biotite V supplementation on growth performance, nutrients digestibility and blood constituents and to evaluate whether Biotite V could replace an antibiotics in growing pigs diet. One hundred twenty pigs with initial body weight of 18.35±0.15 kg were used in a 28 days growth trial. Pigs were allotted to four treatments by sex and body weight in a randomized complete block design. There were six replicate pens per treatment and five pigs per pen. Four dietary treatments were: 1) NC (basal diet without antibiotics), 2) PC (basal diet+0.1% CTC), 3) NCBV (NC diet+0.5% 200 mesh Biotite V) and 4) PCBV (PC diet+0.5% 200 mesh Biotite V). Through the entire experimental period, ADG tented to increase in NCBV and PCBV treatments compared to NC and PC treatments respectively, but no significant differences were observed (p>0.05). ADFI was slightly lower in NCBV and PCBV treatments than that in NC and PC treatments without significant differences (p>0.05). Gain/feed in PC and PCBV treatments was improved significantly compared to NC treatment (p<0.05). N and Ca digestibilities were higher in PCBV treatments than those in PC treatment (p<0.05). DM and P digestibilities were not affected by the addition of Biotite V (p>0.05). RBC, HCT, Hb, lymphocyte and monocyte were increased numerically in NCBV and PCBV treatments compared to NC and PC treatments (p>0.05). WBC was lower in treatment groups than that in NC treatment, but no significant differences were observed (p>0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of Biotite V can better the gain/feed and some of the nutrients digestibilities in growing pigs. It has a possibility to replace antibiotics in swine diet.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding probiotic (Enterococcus faecium SF68, EF) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and faecal noxious gas content in finishing pigs. A total of eighty [(Landrace×Yorkshire)×Duroc] pigs with an initial BW of 50.47±2.13 kg were used in this 8-week experiment. Pigs were allotted to four treatments (4 replicates per treatment and 5 pigs per pen) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were: 1) CON (control; basal diet), 2) CTC (control diet+0.1% antibiotic, chlortetracycline), 3) EF1 (control diet+0.1% probiotic, EF) and 4) EF2 (control diet+0.2% probiotic, EF). During weeks 0-4, ADG was not affected by the addition of antibiotic or EF (p>0.05). In weeks 4-8, ADG tended to increase in CTC and EF treatments compared to CON treatment (p<0.10). ADFI and gain/feed were not affected in each 4-week period and the entire experimental period (p>0.05). Digestibilities of DM and N were higher in EF supplemented treatments than in CON and CTC treatments (p<0.05). Blood characteristics of WBC, RBC and lymphocyte were not affected in pigs given diets containing EF (p>0.05). Supplementation of EF in the diet decreased faecal ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) concentrations (p<0.05). Faecal acetic acid concentration tended to decrease (p<0.10) while propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations were significantly lower on diets with EF supplementation than on the diet containing antibiotic (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of EF can increase nutrient digestibility and decrease faecal NH 3 -N, H 2 S and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in finishing pigs.

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