Organic acids in diets of weaned piglets: performance, digestibility and economical viability

Abstract

Organic acids are used as feed additives to promote growth of weaned piglets since they prevent the occurrence of diarrhea. Thus, performance and digestibility assays were conducted and economic viability of diets was evaluated. In the performance assays, 64 hybrid piglets weaned with a mean weight of 5.87±0.31kg were divided in a randomized block design consisting of 4 treatments, 8 repetitions and 2 piglets per experimental unit (1 castrated male and 1 female). In the digestibility assay, 24 castrated male hybrid piglets with a mean weight of 8.21±0.79kg were individually assigned to 4 treatments and 6 repetitions. The treatments in the two assays were as follows: control, basal diet without addition of an acidifier; blend: inclusion of 0.5% of a mixture of organic acids; butyrate: inclusion of 0.1% of sodium butyrate; blend+butyrate: inclusion of 0.5% of a mixture of organic acids and 0.1% sodium butyrate. There was no effect (P>0.05) of the acidifiers on animal performance during the period studied. Organic acids exerted no effect (P>0.05) on the apparent digestibility coefficients of nutrients. Diets supplemented with sodium butyrate had an economic advantage for the period of 10-24 days. No episode of diarrhea was observed. This study demonstrated no effect of acidifier feed additives as growth promoters in complex diets for weaned piglets.Keywords: acidifiers, additives, digestibility, performance, pigs RESUMO Ácidos orgânicos são utilizados como aditivos promotores de desempenho em leitões, pois podem prevenir a ocorrência de diarreias. Para tanto, foram conduzidos ensaios de desempenho, digestibilidade, e foi avaliada a viabilidade econômica das dietas. No desempenho, foram utilizados 64 leitões híbridos desmamados, com peso médio de 5,87±0,31kg, distribuídos em um delineamento em blocos ao acaso, com quatro tratamentos, oito repetições e dois leitões por unidade experimental (sendo um macho castrado e uma fêmea

Mannan-oligosaccharide and organic acids for weaned piglets

“…No animal was removed from the study because of disease, which could reflect a good health condition in the environment and high health status, which does not allow us to conclude on any additive effect in relation to diarrhoea incidence. These results agree with previous studies in which additive supplementation, such as organic acids (BOAS et al, 2016;ZHANG et al, 2016), manan-oligosaccharides (CHE et al, 2012), or a combination of these (CORASSA et al, 2012), did not influence faecal scores in weaned piglets.…”

“…Zhao et al (2012) reported higher feed intake in pigs fed mannan-oligosaccharide diets (0.5%). In contrast, Boas et al (2016), working with a mixture (0.5%) of lactic, formic, and citric acids; Walsh et al (2012), with (2.58 mL L 1 ) propionic, acetic, and benzoic acid; and Santos et al (2010) and Marinho et al (2007), with mannan-oligosaccharide (inclusion levels from 0.2 to 0.75%), did not observe an effect of additives on feed intake. In summary, the effects of organic acids and prebiotics such as mannanoligosaccharide on growth performance are credited to the improvement in nutrient utilisation of the diet and not to an increase in feed intake.…”

“…The low growth performance observed in this phase is directly related to the occurrence of gastrointestinal disorders, mainly diarrhoea caused by pathogenic bacteria (ADEWOLE et al, 2016). Thus, dietary additives such as organic acids (BOAS et al, 2016;DEVI et al, 2016;ZHANG et al, 2016) and mannan-oligosaccharides (FESSELE; LINDHORST, 2013;GIANNENAS et al, 2016;WENNER et al, 2013) have been used to increase growth performance, decrease diarrhoea mortality, and modify the intestinal environment of pigs after weaning.…”

Additional effect of coated sodium butyrate 30% in the piglets feeding during the nursery phase

“…The absence of difference between treatments may be associated with the high quality of the commercial diet, containing added acidifiers and antimicrobial promoters, as well as the strict control of management at the experimental site, affected the action of the SB reducing the sanitary challenges that could provide conditions for the action of the product by greater requirement of the recovery potential of cells of the intestinal mucosa. Similarly, Boas et al (2016) also noted that the addition of SB to diets containing other organic acids did not affect the performance of piglets during the nursing phase. Piva et al (2002) documented a significant improvement in the piglets' performance until day 14 of the nursery phase.…”

Effect of increasing levels of rice distillers’ by-product on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile and colonic microbiota of weaned piglets

“…Owing to its cheap price it could thus help to replace more expensive feed sources for swine [3,6]. Moreover, in pig production, dietary modulation was considered as strategic ways for reducing enteric diseases, improve gut health, and enhance growth performance [7][8][9][10][11]. Interestingly, diets containing agroindustrial by-products from ethanol production are known to reduce diarrhea incidence in weaned piglets [12].…”