•We tested porcine digestible peptides versus conventional protein sources.•Porcine digestible peptides stimulated initial feed intake and improved feed conversion in weaned piglets.•Porcine ...digestible peptides in weaner diets improved growth in finishing pigs, reducing days to slaughter.•Porcine digestible peptides upregulated systemic levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.•Porcine digestible peptides are suggested as alternative protein source in diets for weaned piglets.
Porcine digestible peptides (PDP) are high-quality hydrolysed proteins obtained from porcine intestinal mucosa as a by-product of the heparin manufacturing process. PDP contain bioactive peptides and are used as alternative protein sources in several animal species, including pigs. We aimed to explore the (carry-over) effects of feeding PDP to weaned piglets on performance and systemic cytokine levels of pigs followed until slaughter. A total of 192 piglets were allocated to one of two dietary treatments: control (CON) or PDP weaner diets. PDP was included at 5.0% until day 13 post-weaning at the expense of skimmed milk powder and partial replacement of soybean meal, and at 2.5% between day 13-34 post-weaning at the expense of soy protein concentrate. Grower-finishers were fed commercial diets according to a 3-phase feeding scheme until slaughter, when carcass traits were determined. Six pigs were housed per weaner pen and eight per grower-finisher pen with 16 and 10 pens per treatment respectively. Pigs were weighed at the start and at the end of each phase, and feed intake was recorded. Faecal consistency was recorded twice a week in the weaner facility. Ten pigs per treatment were sampled for blood at day 13, 34 and 69 post-weaning. We found that PDP-fed piglets had a higher feed intake in the first two weeks post-weaning compared to CON-fed piglets (+32 g/pig per day; P = 0.02). Moreover, piglets in the PDP group showed improved feed conversion between day 13-34 versus the CON group (1.36 vs. 1.43; P = 0.03). Piglets that were fed with PDP in the weaner diets tended to grow faster in the grower-finisher period (+32 g/pig per day; P = 0.07), tended to reach slaughter age earlier (129.9 vs. 131.5 days; P = 0.07) and had a lower dressing percentage at slaughter (76.3 vs. 76.7%, P = 0.045) than piglets previously fed with CON. Additionally, PDP-fed piglets showed higher serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-12 (P = 0.02), TNF-α (P = 0.02), IFN-ɣ (P = 0.03) and IL-8 (at day 34, P = 0.06) as well as anti-inflammatory cytokines TGF-β (P = 0.02), IL-4 (P = 0.04) and IL-10 (at day 34 post-weaning, P = 0.02). No significant differences among dietary treatments were observed regarding faecal consistency of weaned piglets and carcass weight, lean meat percentage, muscle depth, and back fat thickness at slaughter. We conclude that feeding PDP, as alternative to conventional milk and soy protein sources, showed positive effects on pig performance, not only during the provisioning period, but also thereafter into the grower-finisher phase.
The nutritional composition of diets and the provision of exogenous enzymes play important roles in animal performance. Here, we evaluated the individual and combined impact of nutrients ...(metabolizable energy (ME), digestible lysine (dLys), available phosphorus and calcium (avP–Ca)) and exogenous multicarbohydrase and phytase complex (MCPC) enyzmes on the growth performance and feed efficiency of broiler chickens from 10 to 42 days (d) of age. Experimental diets were formulated in a Box-Behnken design to contain various levels of ME (11.89, 12.21, 12.54 or 13.06 MJ/kg), dLys (0.91%, 0.93%, 0.96% or 1.00%) and avP/Ca (0.12/0.47%, 0.21/0.58% or 0.33/0.68%). The effect of MCPC was expressed in terms of the extra nutrients released. The diets were formulated to have consistent substrate contents (i.e., arabinoxylan and phytate). Feed intake (FI), BW gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were described via polynomial equations (R2 = 0.99, 0.98 and 0.81, respectively), with interconnections between variables (ME, dLys and avP–Ca). Available P–Ca was the most important factor affecting FI (quadratically), and BWG and FCR (linearly). Reducing the avP content from 0.33% to 0.12% in diets lacking MCPC resulted in 25% and 33% decreases in FI and BWG, respectively, and a 12% increase in FCR. The ME and dLys contents also linearly affected these performance parameters to a lesser degree; FI decreased by 400 g when the ME was reduced by 1.17 MJ/kg, and by 300 g following a 0.09% reduction of dLys, while the same reductions in ME and dLys decreased BWG by 120 g and 150 g, respectively. The inclusion of MCPC alleviated the reduction of FI, BWG and FCR by decreasing the avP–Ca. Thus, ME and dLys were the most important factors affecting BWG and FCR in broilers fed diets containing MCPC. When MCPC was added, ME negatively affected FI (r = −0.89, P < 0.001), whereas the dLys content was correlated with BWG (r = 0.74, P < 0.001). Both ME and dLys affected FCR (r = −0.83 and −0.85, respectively). Supplementing MCPC allowed the reduction of ME, dLys and avP–Ca in the diet without affecting performance. Indeed, MCPC’s effect promoted with the release of the following nutrients: 0.56 MJ ME/kg, 0.06% dLys, and 0.15% and 0.13% avP and Ca, respectively. The results indicate nutrient effect and interaction on performance and feed additive potential for nutrient release.
To examine the effect of inclusion insoluble nonstarch polysaccharides (iNSP) in weaned diets on postweaning piglet performance, intestinal activity, and microbial composition 2 experiments were ...designed. In Exp. 1, 180 piglets were weaned at 28 d of age and divided over 3 treatments: positive control (PC; highly digestible protein), negative control (NC; standard cereal-based diet), and an experimental diet {iNSP; standard + 15% iNSP wheat straw and oat (Avena sativa) hull}. Diets were fed during 14 d after weaning. The ADFI, ADG, and G:F were determined. The inclusion of iNSP increased (P < 0.001) ADFI and G:F during days 0 to 14 after weaning and increased the ADG (P = 0.008) during days 0 to 7 after weaning compared with the NC diet. In Exp. 2, 36 piglets were fed the same diets as in Exp. 1. On days 5 and 14 after weaning, 18 piglets were euthanized to determine enzyme activity, intestinal morphology, and microbial population in the ileum and colon and organ weight. The iNSP diet reduced the concentration of Escherichia coli bacteria in the ileum (P = 0.021) and in the colon (P = 0.002) digesta and tended to increase (P = 0.060) the amylase activity. The iNSP diet stimulated the physical adaptation of the gastrointestinal tract because stomach weight as percentage of BW was heavier (P = 0.004) than for the NC diet. In conclusion, the consumption of diets with higher iNSP content in the early weaning period affects the microbial colonization without reducing enzyme activity or animal performance compared with a standard weaned pig diet.
Providing pigs a diet that matches their nutrient requirements involves optimizing the diet based on the nutrient digestibility values of the considered feed ingredients. Feeding the same quantity of ...a diet to pigs with similar BW but with different requirements, however, can result in a different average daily gain (ADG) and backfat thickness (BF) between pigs. Digestibility may contribute to this variation in efficiency. We investigated variation in feed efficiency traits in grower-finisher pigs associated with variation in faecal digestibility values, independent of feed intake at the time of measuring faecal digestibility. Considered traits were ADG, average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), BF and residual feed intake (RFI). Feed intake, BW, and BF data of one hundred and sixty three-way crossbreed grower-finisher pigs (eighty female and eighty male) were collected during two phases, from day 0 of the experiment (mean BW 23 kg) till day 56 (mean BW 70 kg) and from day 56 to slaughter (mean BW 121 kg). Pigs were either fed a diet based on corn/soybean meal or a more fibrous diet based on wheat/barley/by-products, with titanium dioxide as indigestible marker. Faecal samples of one hundred and five pigs were collected on the day before slaughter and used to determine apparent faecal digestibility of DM, ash, organic matter (OM), CP, crude fat (CFat), crude fibre (CF), and to calculate the digestibility of nonstarch polysaccharides (NSPs) and energy (E). The effects of diet, sex and covariate feed intake at sampling (FIs) on faecal digestibility values were estimated and were significant for all except for CFat. Faecal digestibility values of each individual pig determined at the day before slaughter, corrected for diet, sex and FIs, were used to estimate their association with ADG, ADFI, FCR, BF, and RFI. In the first phase, a one percent unit increase in faecal digestibility of DM, ash, OM, E, CP, CFat, CF, NSP, and Ash individually was related to 0.01–0.03 unit reduction in FCR and 6–23 g/day reduction in RFI. A unit increase in CP digestibility was related to 0.1 mm increase in BF and 10 g/day increase in ADG. In the second phase, a one percent unit increase in faecal digestibility of DM, CP and Ash was related to a decrease of 16–20 g/day in RFI. In conclusion, the relationship between variation in feed efficiency traits and faecal digestibility values is different across the developmental stages of a pig.
•Piglets are exposed to different challenges just after weaning.•Piglets react to these challenges with low feed intake and performance.•Progut® is a patented brewery yeast hydrolyzate.•The inclusion ...of 2g Progut®/kg in the diet did not penalize piglet performance.•2g Progut®/kg in the diet triggered the immune system to a more responsive state.
The aim of this study was to examine whether yeast derivative (YD) based on brewery yeast hydrolyzate added to a post-weaning diet affected performance and immune responses in weaning pigs. One hundred and twenty pigs were allocated to 20 pens, taking initial body weight into account, and were distributed into two groups as follows: a negative control diet and the same diet supplemented with 2gYD/kg. The YD used was Progut® (Hankkija Oy/Suomen Rehu, Hyvinkää, Finland). At days 7 and 21 of the experiment, half of the piglets per group were challenged intramuscularly with 1mL of a solution of 20% sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS). At days 0, 14, 21 and 28 of the experiment, blood samples from the challenged piglets were obtained and acute-phase proteins (Pig-MAP), natural antibodies of the IgM- and IgG-isotype binding to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and agglutinating antibody titers to SRBC were measured. Yeast derivative inclusion improved feed conversion ratio (P=0.025) for the overall period, tended to increase IgG (P=0.087) and IgM (P=0.061) antibodies in serum-binding KLH, and increased (P=0.037) SRBC agglutination titers. Collectively, these data suggest that YD supplementation as 2gProgut®/kg to weanling pigs triggered the immune system to a more responsive state without penalizing the animal performance which could potentially be beneficial for overcoming disease challenges. Piglets fed with 2gProgut®/kg for 28 days after weaning also showed an improvement in feed conversion ratio.
To study the interaction between the levels of protein and fiber on the productive performance and health status of piglets, ninety-six 35-d-old piglets (9.11 ± 0.60 kg of BW) were placed in 32 pens ...of 3 animals each and allotted to 4 dietary treatments for 21 d. The 4 diets were based on rice, dairy products, and soybean meal in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments, with 2 levels of CP (15.4 vs. 19.4%, as-fed basis) and 2 levels of dietary fiber DF; low fiber (LF) 5.3% NDF and high fiber (HF) 7.15% NDF, as-fed basis. The HF diet was developed by supplementing the basal diet with 40 g/kg of wheat bran and 20 g/kg of sugar beet pulp. Animal performance was obtained weekly with samples of feces collected for microbiology on the first and the last experimental day and scored from 1 (liquid) to 4 (hard). On the last day, 1 pig from each pen was sampled for blood analyses of the acute-phase protein, major acute-phase protein of pigs (PigMap) and subsequently killed to register the digestive tract weight (including contents) and colon histology. Pigs fed the HF diets had greater ADG (390 vs. 457 g; P less-than or equal to 0.001) and large intestine weight (4.4 vs. 5.4% of BW; P less-than or equal to 0.05). This coincided with a greater (P less-than or equal to 0.05) short-chain fatty acid concentration (especially of acetic and butyric acids), a decrease in Escherichia coli counts (7.77 vs. 6.86 log of cfu/g of feces, P less-than or equal to 0.05), and an increase in the ratio of lactobacilli:enterobacteria (0.76 vs. 1.37, P less-than or equal to 0.05). However, CP level did not modify the productive performance, but 20% CP increased P less-than or equal to 0.05) the relative weight (% of BW) of the small (6.5 vs. 7.7) and large intestine (3.8 vs. 4.3). In the large bowel, the 20% CP diet increased the numbers of goblet cells (4.6 vs. 5.4/100 μm; P less-than or equal to 0.05) and reduced the numbers of intraepithelial lymphocytes (1.8 vs. 1.3/100 μm; P less-than or equal to 0.05). In relation to health status, increasing DF was dependent of the dietary CP content. Supplementing the 16% CP diet with DF reduced the fecal score and increased the antibiotics interventions, whereas the opposite was the case in the 20% CP diet. Pigs fed the 20% CP diet showed decreased (P less-than or equal to 0.05) PigMap concentrations than pigs fed 16% CP diets. As a whole, CP showed major effects on the gastrointestinal weight and gut barrier integrity, whereas DF increased the productive performance and promoted major changes in the microbial colonization and fermentation variables.
Digestibility of nutrients in pig diets is an important component of overall feed efficiency. Targeted improvement of digestibility is currently mainly achieved by optimization of pig diets, based on ...information generated from digestibility trials that aim to establish fecal digestibility coefficients of different nutrients across a variety of ingredients. Genetic selection for nutrient digestibility is hampered by shortage of data on individual digestibility, but might help to further improve efficiency of pork production. The present study aimed to estimate the repeatability of fecal digestibility in pigs, as a first step to judge the perspectives for a breeding approach of nutrient digestibility. To achieve this, data was accumulated across nine digestibility trials, containing 1150 digestibility records of 416 growing pigs, measured across the trials. The data was analyzed with a model estimating variances for trial, diet, common litter, and individual animal effect for digestibility of Dry Matter, Ash, Organic Matter, Crude Protein, Crude fat and Non-Starch Polysaccharides. The factors diet and trial together explained the majority of the phenotypic variance, due to the design of the trials. Within diet and trial, common litter and individual animal effect contributed 0–10% of the phenotypic variance. The repeatability estimates ranged from 7% for Ash to 16% for Crude Protein, which suggests there may be genetic variation between pigs in digestibility. In conclusion, the repeatability estimates indicate it is worthwhile to collect phenotypic data that enable the estimation of genetic parameters for digestibility, if these data can be obtained at reasonable cost.
•Records of nine digestibility experiments with pigs were used.•Variance components for fecal digestibility of six nutrients were estimated.•Repeatabilities ranged from 7% to 16%.•Results suggest breeding could help to improve nutrient digestibility.
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys levels of the diet on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of entire males (EM), ...surgical castrates (SC), and males vaccinated with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccine (GV). In total, 252 crossbred pigs were fed 6 different experimental diets consisting of 3 sexes (EM, SC, and GV pigs) and 2 dietary SID Lys levels (2008 CVB standard SID Lys recommendation Std or 15% extra SID Lys +15) according to a 3-phase feeding scheme (d 0 to 35, 35 to 70, and 70 to 105 of experiment) with 6 pens per treatment and 6 pigs per pen. To determine if dietary SID Lys could be reduced for GV males after the second vaccination, an additional dietary treatment was included (GV+15-Std). The GV males on the GV+15-Std were fed the diet with 15% extra SID Lys in the starter and grower phases and the standard SID Lys level in the finisher phase. First vaccination was administered to pigs at the start of the experiment (23.4 kg BW and 63.6 d of age), and the second vaccination occurred 6 wk before slaughter (77.2 kg BW and 126.6 d of age). Until the second vaccination, GV pigs showed a lower (P ≤ 0.05) ADFI than SC but similar to EM. After the second vaccination, GV pigs had an intermediate (P ≤ 0.05) G:F between EM and SC. The GV+15 pigs showed a better G:F (P ≤ 0.05) than GV pigs fed the GV+15-Std diet in the finisher phase. No differences in the growth rate of the pigs were observed. The SC had a greater (P ≤ 0.05) carcass weight and dressing percentage than EM and GV pigs. The GV-Std pigs had a lower (P ≤ 0.05) meat percentage and greater (P ≤ 0.05) backfat thickness than the GV+15 pigs. The GV pigs and SC fed the standard SID Lys diet had a greater (P ≤ 0.05) percentage of SFA in the subcutaneous fat than EM+15 pigs. On the other hand, SC showed the greatest (P ≤ 0.05) concentration of MUFA compared to EM and GV pigs. The SC and GV pigs had a lower (P ≤ 0.05) PUFA percentage in the subcutaneous fat than EM fed the standard SID Lys diet.
The aim of this work was to assess the influence of including two different sources of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP): insoluble NSP (iNSP) like wheat bran (WB) and/or soluble NSP (sNSP) like sugar ...beet pulp (SBP) on the nutrient digestibility and the physicochemical characteristics of the hindgut digesta, and on the microbial population and the fermentation end-products. A total of 32 piglets (7.4
±
0.76
kg of body weight (BW)) were distributed into four experimental diets: a control diet (CT), or diets with 8% WB, 6% SBP, or 4% WB and 3% SBP (WB–SBP). Two experimental periods were considered (0–10 and 10–15 days after weaning) during which BW and voluntary feed intake were measured. Four animals per treatment were euthanized on days 10 and 15. Colon digesta was sampled and analyzed for organic matter digestibility (OMd) and starch digestibility, unbound water, water retention capacity (WRC) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). At the same time, enterobacteria and lactobacilli loads were determined in caecum digesta. The presence of iNSP in the diet (WB and WB–SBP diets) diminished the unbound water of colonic digesta in the two experimental periods (P=0.01 on day 10 and P<0.05 on day 15) and increased the butyric acid concentration (P<0.05) on day 15, compared to the CT diet. Including iNSP and sNSP in the same diet (WB–SBP) decreased (P<0.05) the enterobacteria counts on caecum digesta on day 15 compared to the CT diet indicating a synergistic effect of the two different sources on the microbial population. Consumption of diets with higher iNSP content, or the combination of iNSP
+
sNSP in the early weaning period modifies physicochemical characteristics and affects the microbial colonization and fermentation patterns in the hindgut.
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