Benzoic acid (BA) and essential oils (EO) can minimize growth performance losses due to the removal of antibiotics and change the intestinal health of weaned piglets. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of BA and EO on inflammatory response, diarrhea incidence, and growth performance of the nursery phase. One hundred and twenty barrows were weaned at 23 days (6.40 ± 0.53 kg) and assigned into 3 treatments (10 replicates) in randomized block design: basal diet without additives (NC), basal diet with 200 ppm of colistin sulphate (PC), and association of 0,3% benzoic acid and essential oil (BA+EO). The feed intake and body weight were recorded at 0 and 42 days. The feces were assessed daily (per animal) and graded as normal feces (no diarrhea) or liquid or pasty stools (presence of diarrhea). On days 1, 3, and 9, blood samples were collected (5 replicates) for white blood cells (WBC) counts. Growth performance was analyzed by MIXED procedure (SAS, 2009) and the Tukey test was used to compare the means (P < 0.050). The WBC counts were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance, by MIXED procedure. Diarrhea incidence was analyzed by GENMOD procedure (SAS, 2009). The BA+EO treatment showed a similar body weight (P = 0.014) and average daily gain (P = 0.012) than the PC group and lower feed conversion ratio (P = 0.037) compared to the NC group. The pigs of the BA+EO treatment had the lowest diarrhea incidence during the total period (P < 0.001). The supplementation with BA+EO or antibiotics reduced the counts of total WBC (P = 0.008) and neutrophils (P = 0.003). In conclusion, supplementation with BA+EO reduces the inflammatory response and the incidence of diarrhea in the nursery phase, that may be related to the improvement in the FCR.
Benzoic acid (BA) and essential oils (EO) have antimicrobial properties and can be used in antibiotic restriction situations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of BA and EO on cecal content microbiota in weaned piglets and growth performance from the nursery to finishing phase. One hundred and twenty barrows were weaned at 23 days (6.40 ± 0.53 kg) and assigned into 3 treatments (10 replicates) in randomized block design: basal diet without additives (NC), basal diet with antibiotics (PC), and association of 0,3% benzoic acid and essential oil (BA+EO). Colistin sulphate (200 ppm) in the nursery diets and enramycin (10 and 5 ppm) in the growing and finishing diets were used in the PC treatment. The pigs were weighed 0, 42 and 132 days into the experiment. On day 9, one animal per pen (7 replicates) was euthanized and the cecal content was collected for microbiome analyses. Growth performance was analyzed by MIXED procedure (SAS, 2009) and the Tukey test was used to compare the means (P < 0.050). The averages for biodiversity between treatments were compared using the number of OTUs and the Kruskal Wallis test (P < 0.050), and the statistical program STAMP was used. In the microbiome analyses, the results of the taxonomic classification, by principal components analysis (PCA), showed a marked difference in bacterial communities per treatment and a significant increase in the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was observed in the BA+EO group (P < 0.05). At 132 days, the final weight (P = 0.006) and total average daily gain (P = 0.028) of BA+EO and PC were higher than NC. In conclusion, supplementation with BA+EO increases biodiversity in cecal content in the post-weaning period, resulting in an improvement in the growth performance of finishing pigs.
Antibiotics growth promoting (AGP) in animal feed has been restricted. With this, several additives have been tested in order to replace AGP and ensure intestinal health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a blend of additives on growth performance, diarrhea incidence and cecal content microbiota of nursery pigs. A total of 576 weaned pigs (6.21 ± 1.16 kg) were assigned into 4 treatments (12 replicates) in randomized block design: basal diet without additives (NC); basal diet with 120 ppm of halquinol (PC); NC + 0,05% blend of lactic acid (3,5%), benzoic acid (2,5%), flavonoids (3,5%) (B5); NC+ 0,1% of same blend (B10). The pigs were weighed 0 and 42 days into the experiment. On day 10, one animal per pen (10 replicates) was euthanized for microbiota analyses. The diarrhea incidence was calculated by the percentage of visual pens with diarrhea, by day, in the period. The growth performance was analyzed by GLIMMIX procedure and the means were compared with Tukey test (P < 0.050) (SAS, 2009). Diarrhea incidence was analyzed by GENMOD procedure (SAS, 2009). The Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare microbial biodiversity (P < 0.050) by statistical program STAMP. The final weight (P = 0.010) and average daily gain (P = 0.001) of B10 and PC were higher than NC. Regarding diarrhea, it was observed that the B5 and B10 had lower incidence when compared to other groups in the total period. In the microbiome analyses, it was observed that the B5, B10, and PC groups had lower (P = 0.021) biodiversity when compared to the NC piglets. However, the B5 and B10 group had higher biodiversity when compared to the PC group. In conclusion, the supplementation with 0,1% blend of additives can be a substitute for AGP.
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding frequency on sow and litter performance during lactation. At d 109 of gestation, a total of 300 sows (Landrace × Yorkshire; BW 245± 3.2 kg; parity 2.54 ± 0.21); were blocked by parity and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments. The treatments were: sows fed twice daily at 0730 and 1530 h (T1) or 3 times daily at 0730, 1130, and 1530 h (T2). Sows were fed a corn-soybean meal- containing 3.4 Mcal of ME/kg and 1.03% SID Lys. Sow BW and BF measurements were recorded at d 109 and at weaning. Litters were cross-fostered within treatments within 24-h after farrowing, and litter weights were collected at 12-h post-farrow, and again at weaning. Normality of the data set was checked using proc univariate procedure of SAS and analyzed using GLIMMIX procedure. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05, and a trend as 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10. An individual sow and a litter were the experimental unit. Comparisons were performed with Student’s t-test at 5% of significance. No evidence (P > 0.10) for treatment differences were observed in sow BW, BF, total born, mummified fetuses, stillbirth rate, and litter or piglet weight gain during lactation. Sows fed twice daily had a greater (9.8 % vs. 11.2 %) (P < 0.05) pre-weaning mortality during lactation period than sows fed 3 times daily. In conclusion, feeding sows 3 times daily exhibited the potential to reduce the pre-weaning mortality rate by 1.4% during lactation.
The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of sire line on sow and piglet performance during lactation. Commercial Landrace x Large White females (n = 60) were bred to one of the following sire lines: a purebred Duroc line (Line S1), a synthetic (Line S2), or purebred Duroc (Line S3) from a different genetic source. Matings were balanced by line and parity. Females were fed a common gestation and lactation diet during these respective phases. Sow and piglet data were analyzed as a completely randomized design using the GLM procedure of SAS. Results show that, during lactation, females bred to line S3 lost significantly (P = 0.01) more BW (-16.93 ± 3.56 kg) than females bred to line S2 (-2.00 ± 3.50 kg). However, no evidence of a difference (P = 0.18) in BW loss was detected between females bred to line S3 (-16.93 ± 3.56 kg) vs. Line S1 (-7.90 ± 3.56 kg). Further, sows bred to line S3 weaned significantly (P = 0.03) more piglets (12.0 ± 0.28) than females bred to line S2 (10.9 ± 0.27), but not (P = 0.1) compared to females bred to line S1 (11.7 ± 0.27). No significant effect of line (P > 0.05) or parity (P > 0.05) on total number of piglet’s born, number born alive, number of stillborn piglets, or preweaning mortality was detected. The number of mummified fetus tended to be lower in line S2 (0.17 vs 0.66; P = 0.079) and line S3 (0.12 vs 0.66; P = 0.051) sows compared with line S1 sows, respectively. In conclusion, sire line did not have a significant effect on total number born, number born alive, number stillborn, or preweaning mortality. However, females bred to line S3 lost significantly more BW during lact but weaned significantly more piglets than females bred to line S2.
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