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Effect of feeding encapsulated butyric acid (ButiPEARL) in nursery diets containing reduced lactose levels on the growth performance of weaning pigs
There has been limited research to establish if ButiPEARL (BP), a source of encapsulated butyric acid, can replace lactose and milk by-products in swine nursery diets without affecting the growth performance of pigs. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the effects of feeding BP at 500 ppm on nursery diets with reduced levels of lactose on the growth performance of weaning pigs. The study was conducted as a RCBD (blocking factor = weight and sex) with the following dietary treatments: 1) Positive Control (PC): standard lactose levels without BP; 2) Negative Control (NC): PC -6 percentage units of lactose, without BP; 3) PC+BP: PC with 500 ppm of BP; 4) Lac -1%+BP: PC -1 percentage unit of lactose with 500 ppm of BP; 5) Lac -3%+BP: PC -3 percentage units of lactose with 500 ppm of BP; and 6) Lac -6%+BP: PC -6 percentage units of lactose with 500 ppm of BP. The study was carried out over a 42 d study period using 12 replicates with 720 weaning pigs (5.46 ± 0.25 kg) in 72 pens. During the study period, the following levels of lactose in the PC were fed during each dietary phase: Phase 1 (7d): 15%; Phase 2 (7d): 12% (7d); Phase 3 (14d): 9%; and Phase 4 (14d): 0%. All pigs were fed a common diet in Phase 4, with no added BP. Pigs were housed in two rooms that had not been cleaned following cessation of the previous trial, with ad libitum access to feed and water. The PC had 11.8 and 12.0% higher (P ≤ 0.05) overall ADG and ADFI than the NC. All pigs fed BP had a similar (P > 0.05) overall performance across lactose levels. On average, BP fed pigs had a lower (P ≤ 0.05) overall ADG and ADFI (5.7 and 6.5%, respectively) than the PC, and a higher (P ≤ 0.05) overall ADG and ADFI (6.8 and 6.1%, respectively) than the NC. There were no treatment effects (P > 0.05) for overall G:F. These results suggest ButiPEARL may be used as a partial replacement for lactose in swine nursery diets.
Keywords: ButiPEARL, butyric acid, lactose, nursery pig