Effect of a Post-Weaning Supplemental Nutrition Program on the Growth Performance, and Morbidity and Mortality of Nursery Pigs.

This study was carried out from weaning (5.0 ± 0.45 kg BW) over 8 weeks (final BW of 30.3 ± 2.83 kg) as a RCBD comparing 2 post-weaning nutritional programs (Control vs. Enhanced). The Control treatment was a 4-phase standard commercial nursery dietary program; diets met or exceeded NRC (2012) nutrient requirements. The Enhanced treatment consisted of the same 4-phase dietary program with supplementation immediately post-weaning of a commercially-available nursery starter diet (with high levels of milk by-products and animal protein sources; fed at 0.11 kg/pig) and a liquid dietary supplement (commercially available nutrient dense liquid supplement; dilution ratio supplement to water of 1:128), delivered via the water supply for 3 d post-weaning. The study used 5,784 barrows and gilts housed in mixed-sex groups of 44 pigs, for a total of 66 replicates. Pigs had ad libitum access to feed and water. Pen was the experimental unit; data were analyzed using PROC MIXED of SAS; the model accounted for the effects of treatment, block, and replicate. Body weight was greater (P < 0.05) for the Enhanced compared to the Control treatment at the end of wk 2, 4, and 6 (3.5%, 2.6%, and 2.0%, respectively) but not at the end of the study. The Enhanced treatment had greater (P = 0.03) overall ADG compared to the Control (422 vs. 413 g/d, respectively; SEM = 5.0). Compared to the Control, pigs on the Enhanced treatment had greater ADFI from start to wk 2 (200 vs. 209 g/d; SEM 0.006; P = 0.01) and from wk 2 to 4 (494 vs. 508 g/d; SEM 0.011; P = 0.02) but not for the overall 8-wk period (667 vs. 671 g/d; SEM 0.009; P = 0.09). Gain:feed was greater for the Enhanced treatment than the Control for the first 2 weeks (0.795 vs. 0.764, kg:kg; SEM 0.0121; P = 0.04) but not for the overall period (0.623 vs. 0.623, kg:kg; SEM 0.0023; P = 0.14). Morbidity and mortality levels were numerically lower for the Enhanced treatment than the Control, but the difference was not statistically significant (5.6 vs. 6.6%; P = 0.14). The results of this study suggest the Enhanced nursery program improved growth performance early in the post-weaning period, but this improvement was not sustained to the end of the nursery period. Additional, larger-scale studies are needed to establish any effect of the Enhanced program used in this study on morbidity and mortality.