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Effect of a Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product and dietary antibiotics, alone or in combination, on nursery pig performance and frequency of medical treatment
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product (LAFP: SynGenX®, Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) and dietary antibiotics alone or in combination, on nursery growth performance and the frequency of injectable medications. A total of 424 weanling pigs (average BW = 5.81 ± 0.93 kg) were blocked by weight and assigned to 1 of 4 treatments delivered over 4 phases: treatment 1) a control diet (Ctl), 2) Ctl plus LAFP, 3) Ctl plus antibiotics (Ab), or 4) Ctl plus both LAFP and Ab (LAFP+Ab). LAFP was added at 0.10% in phases 1 to 3 and 0.05% in phase 4. For the antibiotic treatments, chlortetracycline (0.044%) and tiamulin hydrogen fumarate (0.0039%) were added in phases 1 and 2 only. The number of animal treatments was recorded. Data were analyzed using the MIXED and FREQ procedures of SAS. There were no differences in BW among Ctl, LAFP and Ab (P > 0.05). However, LAFP+Ab resulted in a higher BW (P < 0.05). Neither BW standard deviation nor coefficient of variation nor ADFI were different among treatments (P > 0.05). ADG and G:F ratio were greatest in LAFP+Ab (P < 0.05); neither product individually increased ADG or G:F (P > 0.05). The frequency of pigs medicated was not significantly different among treatments for phases 1, 3 and 4 (P > 0.10); in phase 2, LAFP+Ab tended to have lower medication frequency followed by Ab and LAFP, while Ctl had the highest medication frequency (P = 0.078). In conclusion, the Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product in combination with antibiotics can improve growth performance and decrease the number of medications in nursery pigs more effectively than either product alone .
Table 1. Effect of dietary treatments on pig growth performance for the overall period.
Item |
Ctl |
LAFP |
Ab |
LAFP+Ab |
SEM |
P-value |
d-0-35 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADG, kg |
0.366b |
0.366b |
0.376b |
0.390a |
0.010 |
0.002 |
ADFI, kg |
0.58 |
0.58 |
0.59 |
0.59 |
0.018 |
0.372 |
G:F ratio |
0.635b |
0.639b |
0.642ab |
0.660a |
0.009 |
0.043 |
Initial BW, kg |
5.81 |
5.81 |
5.82 |
5.81 |
0.28 |
0.801 |
Final BW, kg |
18.60b |
18.68b |
19.00ab |
19.45a |
0.60 |
0.010 |
a,b,c, Symbolize statistical significant differences among treatments P≤ 0.05
Keywords: Lactobacillus acidopholis fermentation product, antibiotic, nursery