Low feed consumption during the first 3 d post-weaning disrupts nutrient intake and results in what is commonly known as a post-weaning growth check. While most pigs recover from this initial reduction in feed intake (FI), some pigs fail to successfully make this transition leading to morbidity and mortality. In this review, our objective is to describe the different post-weaning strategies that can be used to minimize nutrient intake disruption and improve FI in the immediate post-weaning period. Providing weanling pigs with an environment that encourages them to search out and consume feed is important. This includes appropriate barn temperatures, resource availability, and nursery placement strategies. Research is needed to better understand the ideal environmental temperatures to encourage pen exploration and reduce time to initial FI. Likewise, mat and gruel feeding are commonly practiced throughout the industry to increase feed accessibility, however limited research data is available to validate protocols or benefits. Nursery placement strategies include sorting light weight pigs into uniform body weight groups and average or heavy weight pigs into variable body weight groups to provide benefit to light pigs while reducing initial aggression in heavy pigs. Furthermore, water enrichment with nutrient dense products have been shown to improve growth performance and reduce morbidity and mortality in the early post-weaning period. Because young pigs are sensitive to palatability, diet form and complexity should also be considered. Weanling pigs prefer diets manufactured with coarse ground corn (700 microns) compared to fine ground corn. Additionally, weanling pigs are more attracted to large diameter pellets (12 mm) compared with small pellets. Despite these preferences, impacts on growth are relatively small. Feeding complex diets with high levels of lactose, animal protein products, or other palatable ingredients is another strategy shown to improve growth performance during the first week post-weaning; however, the initial benefits quickly diminished as pigs become older. Other strategies that warrant further investigation include the effect of crumble diets on feed preference and the concept of perinatal or social interaction flavor learning. In summary, strategic post-weaning nutrition and management practices must focus on maintaining continuity of nutrient intake in order to reduce morbidity and mortality in the immediate post-weaning period.
Two experiments were conducted to determine the available P (aP) release of Smizyme TS G5 2,500 (Origination, LLC., Maplewood, MN) phytase. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21-d of age, randomly allotted to pens based on initial body weight (BW) and fed a common diet. On d 21 post-weaning, pens were blocked by BW and randomly allotted to 1 of 8 (Exp. 1) or 7 (Exp. 2) dietary treatments with 5 pigs per pen and 8 pens per treatment. Treatments were formulated to include increasing aP from either inorganic P (0.12, 0.18, or 0.24% in Exp. 1 and 0.11, 0.19, or 0.27% in Exp. 2 from monocalcium P) or increasing phytase (150, 250, 500, 750, or 1,000 FTU/kg in Exp. 1 and 250, 500, 1000, or 1,500 FTU/kg in Exp. 2). Prior to beginning the 21-d studies, all pigs were fed the lowest inorganic P diet for a 3-d period. At the conclusion of each experiment, the pig closest to the pen mean BW was euthanized and fibulas were collected to determine bone ash weight and percentage bone ash. Fibulas were processed using defatted bone mineral procedures. In both experiments, pigs fed increasing aP from inorganic P had increased (linear, P < 0.01) ADG, G:F, and final BW. Additionally, pigs fed diets with increasing phytase had increased (Exp. 1 linear, P < 0.01, Exp. 2 linear and quadratic, P < 0.05) performance across all growth response criteria. For bone composition, pigs fed increasing aP from inorganic P had increased bone ash weights (linear, P < 0.01) and percentage bone ash (Exp. 1 quadratic, P < 0.01, Exp. 2 linear, P < 0.01). Similarly, pigs fed increasing phytase had increased bone ash weights (linear, P < 0.01) and percentage bone ash (Exp. 1 linear, P < 0.01, Exp. 2 linear and quadratic, P < 0.05). The percentage aP released from Smizyme TS G5 2,500 for both experiments varied depending on the response criteria used. As the amount of phytase in the diet increased, the calculated aP release increased when ADG (Exp. 1 linear, P < 0.01; Exp. 2 linear and quadratic, P < 0.01), G:F (linear, P < 0.01), or percentage bone ash (Exp. 1 linear and quadratic, P < 0.05; Exp. 2 linear, P < 0.01) were used a the predictor variable. When combining the data from Exp. 1 and 2, the aP release prediction equations for Smizyme TS G5 2,500 are aP=(0.197×FTU)÷(584.956+FTU), aP=(0.175×FTU)÷(248.348+FTU), and aP=(0.165×FTU)÷(178.146+FTU) when using ADG, G:F, and percentage bone ash, respectively as the predictor variable.
Weaning is a crucial phase of swine production marked by a multitude of biological and environmental stressors, which have a significant impact on immediate post-weaning behavior and feed intake (FI). During this time the piglet’s gastrointestinal (GI) system is also undergoing extensive epithelial, immune and nervous system development. In this review, our objective is to describe the different pre-weaning strategies that can be used to minimize nutrient intake disruption and improve FI in the immediate post-weaning period. Reducing nutrient disruption post-weaning can be accomplished through the implementation of management and nutritional strategies. Research consistently demonstrates that weaning older, more developmentally mature pigs helps prevent many of the adverse GI effects associated with weaning stress. Providing creep feed to pigs during lactation is another reliable strategy that has been shown to increase immediate post-weaning FI by acclimating pigs to solid feed prior to weaning. Likewise, socialization by allowing pigs to mix before weaning improves social skills, minimizing mixing stress and aggression related injury immediately post-weaning. Supplemental milk replacer has also been shown to elicit a positive response in pre-weaning growth performance, which may help to reduce pre-weaning mortality. While socialization and milk replacer are acknowledged to ease the weaning transition, these strategies have not been widely adopted due to labor and application challenges. Additionally, the cost of milk replacer and logistics of retrofitting farrowing houses to accommodate litter socialization have limited adaptation. Further exploration of maternal nutrition strategies, particularly fetal imprinting, is needed to better understand the implications of perinatal learning. Other areas for future research include, combining environmental enrichment with feeding strategies, such as large destructible pellets or play feeders, as well as determining at what time point producers should start socializing pigs before weaning. While more research is needed to develop strategic pre-weaning management programs, many of the strategies presented in this review provide opportunities for producers to to minimize nutrient intake disruption by preventing feed neophobia, reducing stress, and easing the wean pig transition.
Data from 3 experiments conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing available P in swine diets were used to compare two different bone processing methods. Our objective was to determine if the procedures influenced treatment differences and the ability to detect changes in percentage bone ash. In each experiment, pigs (nursery pigs in Exp. 1 and 2, and finishing pigs in Exp. 3) were fed a wide range of available phosphorus (aP) levels provided from either increasing monocalcium P or added phytase. At the completion of each experiment, a subset of pigs was euthanized and either fibulas (Exp. 1 and 2) or metacarpals, (Exp. 3) were collected to determine percentage bone ash. Bones were processed by cleaning away all soft tissue followed by ether extraction for 7-days (de-fatted), or no lipid extraction (non-defatted), then ashed. In nursery and finishing pigs, defatted bones had increased (P < 0.001) percentage bone ash compared to non-defatted bones. No evidence of a method × treatment interaction or linear and quadratic interactions were observed in bone ash weight and percentage bone ash (P > 0.10) for nursery pigs; however, a linear interaction was detected (P < 0.05) in percentage bone ash for grow-finish pigs. This response was minimal and likely due to increased variation observed in grow-finish pigs when bones were not defatted. Processing method did not affect the ability to detect differences among treatments as a result of changing dietary P concentrations in nursery or grow-finish pigs. In summary, either non-fatted or defatted bone processing methods can be used to determine bone ash weight and percentage bone ash as a way to assess bone mineralization and dietary treatment differences in nursery pigs; however, the increased variation observed in mature pigs suggest that defatted bones is the preferred method for grow-finish pigs.
Three experiments were conducted to determine the effect of three fermented amino acids (AA) with their respective biomass compared to crystalline AA on the growth performance of swine and poultry. In experiment 1, 315 barrows (DNA 200 × 400, initially 11.3 ± 0.69 kg) were allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 5 pigs per pen and 15 or 16 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments included a negative control (16% standardized ileal digestible [SID] Tryptophan:lysine [Trp:Lys] ratio), positive control (21% SID Trp:Lys ratio from crystalline Trp), or diets containing Trp with biomass to provide 21 or 23.5% SID Trp:Lys ratios, respectively. Pigs fed the positive control or low Trp with biomass diet had increased (P < 0.05) ADG compared to pigs fed the negative control diet, with pigs fed the high Trp with biomass diet intermediate. Pigs fed the low Trp with biomass diet had increased (P < 0.05) G:F compared to the negative control diet, with others intermediate. In experiment 2, 1,320 1-d-old male broilers (Cobb 500, initially 45.2 g) were allotted to one of four dietary treatments with 33 birds per pen and 10 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments included a negative control (58/58% Threonine:lysine [Thr:Lys] ratio), positive control (65/66% Thr:Lys ratio from crystalline Thr), or diets containing Thr with biomass to provide 65/66 or 69/70% Thr:Lys ratios in starter and grower diets, respectively. Broilers fed the positive control or Thr with biomass diets had increased (P < 0.05) ADG compared to broilers fed the negative control diet. Broilers fed the positive control or the low Thr with biomass diet had increased (P < 0.05) G:F compared to the negative control and high Thr with biomass treatments. In experiment 3, 2,100 one-day-old male broilers (Cobb 500, initially 39.4 g) were allotted to one of four dietary treatments with 35 birds per pen and 15 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments included a negative control (59/63% Valine:lysine [Val:Lys] ratio), positive control (75/76% Val:Lys ratio from crystalline Val), or diets containing Val with biomass to provide 75/76 or 84/83% Val:Lys ratios in starter and grower diets, respectively. Broilers fed the positive control or Val with biomass diets had increased (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and G:F compared to those fed the negative control diet. In conclusion, Trp, Thr, or Val with their respective biomass appear to be equally bioavailable and a suitable alternative to crystalline AA in swine and poultry diets.
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