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The Effects of an Algae-Modified Montmorillonite Clay on Nursery Pig Growth Performance in Diets Contaminated with Deoxynivalenol
A total of 360 barrows (PIC 1050; initially 11.4 kg and 45 d of age) were used in a 21-d growth experiment evaluating the effects of an algae-modified montmorillonite clay (AMMC; Olmix S.A., Brehan, France) in nursery pig diets naturally-contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). Pigs were allotted to pens by BW, and randomly assigned to 1 of 9 dietary treatments in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with dietary DON levels (0, 1.5, and 3 mg/kg) and AMMC inclusion (0, 0.15, and 0.50%) as main effects. There were 8 replicate pens per treatment and 5 pigs per pen. Mycotoxin analyses were conducted on the main ingredients at LDA Labs (Ploufragan, France) and the NDSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (Fargo, ND). Naturally contaminated wheat (6 mg/kg DON) replaced non-contaminated wheat in diets to achieve desired dietary DON levels. All diets were fed in meal form and pig BW and feed disappearance were measured weekly. Analyzed dietary DON concentrations generally matched formulated levels (1.7 and 3.2 mg/kg DON, respectively). No DON × AMMC interactions were detected (P>0.09) for nursery pig growth or BW. As dietary DON level increased, ADG (555, 500, and 484 g/d) and final BW (23.1, 21.9, and 21.6 kg) decreased (quadratic, P < 0.05), driven by poorer (quadratic, P<0.01) ADFI (829, 749, and 685 g/d) and feed efficiency (0.674, 0.670, and 0.616). At both 1.5 and 3 mg/kg DON, reductions in ADG were most severe during d 0 to 7 (15 and 22%, respectively), lessening over time to only 6 and 4% during the final period. The addition of AMMC to diets with or without DON had no effect (P>0.12) on nursery pig growth with ADG of 520, 507, 513 g/d and G:F of 0.662, 0.655, and 0.643 for pigs fed 0, 0.15, and 0.50% AMMC, respectively. The results of this study suggest that even at low dietary concentrations, DON reduces performance, and the inclusion of AMMC in diets did not alleviate DON-associated effects on nursery pig growth.
Keywords: deoxynivalenol, mycotoxin, nursery pig