Effects of medium-chain fatty acids as alternatives to ZnO or antibiotics in nursery pig diets

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) on nursery pig performance in place of ZnO and carbadox. In this trial, 360 weanling pigs (DNA 200 x 400; 5.4 ± 0.07 kg BW) were fed for 35 days, with 6 pigs/pen and 10 replicate pens/treatment. Upon weaning, pigs were weighed and allotted to pens based on BW in a completely randomized design to one of 6 treatment diets: 1) Negative control (no added ZnO or carbadox); 2) Control + 3,000 ppm ZnO in phase 1 and 2,000 ppm ZnO in phase 2; 3) Control + 50 g/ton carbadox; 4) Control + C6:C8:C10 MCFA blend; 5) Control + Proprietary Oil Blend (Feed Energy Corp.); 6) Control + monolaurate blend (FORMI GML from ADDCON). Treatment diets were fed through two dietary phases and a common diet fed through phase three. Pigs and feeders were individually weighed on a weekly basis to determine average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI). From d 0 to 19, pigs being fed the ZnO or Carbadox diets had the greatest ADG. These pigs had significantly higher (P < 0.05) ADG than pigs fed the control or Feed Energy Proprietary Oil Blend, while pigs fed the C6:C8:C10 blend or FORMI GML diets had similar (P > 0.05) ADG compared to those fed carbadox. These effects were primarily driven by feed intake, which was greatest ( P < 0.05) in pigs fed ZnO and carbadox. Treatment diet had a marginally significant effect (P = 0.078) on G:F. Increased d 19 BW (P < 0.05) was observed for pigs fed ZnO and carbadox compared to the negative control, while other treatments were intermediate. Additionally, blood data and fecal scores were collected throughout the trial. On d 21, pigs fed ZnO or carbadox had higher (P < 0.0001) glucose values than those fed the Feed Energy Proprietary Oil Blend, with other diets being intermediate, showing potential health benefits of carbadox. While ZnO resulted in higher glucose values, it may also contribute to hepatic issues. While replacing ZnO and carbadox with MCFA did not result in significant changes in gut microflora, it did impact fecal consistency by softening the feces during the treatment period. Overall, these results show that ZnO and carbadox are valuable additives to help maximize growth performance in early stages of the nursery. Some MCFA products, like FORMI GML, may result in similar performance, while others restrict it. Thus, additional research is needed to study the effectiveness of MCFA to replace ZnO or feed-based antibiotics.

Comparison of caproic acid and monolaurin with zinc oxide and benzoic acid; effect on growth performance of weaned pigs

“…In contrast, only a 2.8% increase in ADLG was recorded with 2% MCOA in feed (Mohana Devi and Kim, 2014). Furthermore, Dahmer et al (2020) found that a blend of C6:0, C8:0 and C10:0 did not significantly affect performance compared to a negative control diet, whereas ZnO (3,000 mg/kg) improved ADLG (P<0.001) but the inclusion level of MCOA was not specified. The size of response was likely influenced by the type and dose rate of MCOA and pathogen challenge.…”

In vitro and in vivo antiviral activity of monolaurin against Seneca Valley virus

“…MCFAs undergo esterification with glycerol to form triglycerides, known as medium-chain fatty acid triglycerides (MCTs). In addition to being a source of energy, MCFAs can also improve intestinal morphological structure and growth, prevent infection, regulate immunity, and act as an alternative to antibiotics (6,7). Both MCFAs and MCTs exhibit strong bacteriostatic activity against a variety of pathogens, including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, and protozoa (8,9).…”

Effects of a functional fatty acid blend on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and serum profiles in weaned piglets

“…Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) with 6 to 12 carbon atoms, including caproic (C6), caprylic (C8), capric (C10), and lauric (C12) acids. MCFA can be absorbed directly into the portal blood and may contribute to immediate energy for the enterocytes [ 7 , 8 ]. Moreover, MCFA possess antibacterial effects and may thereby reduce the amount of viral and bacterial pathogens in the feed and the risk of disease transmission [ 9 ].…”