Effect of a Peptide Product (FPM), Zinc Oxide and a Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermented Product (LAFP) on Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect on nursery growth performance of adding a fish-porcine-microbial peptide cocktail (FPM), zinc oxide and a lactobacillus acidophilus fermented product (LAFP), alone or in combination, as a replacement for spray-dried plasma. At weaning (21d of age), 288 pigs were blocked by BW (6.4 ± 0.4 kg) and allotted within block to 48 pens (8 replicates/treatment). Pens were then randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatments: 1) PC, supplemented with spray-dried plasma (SDPP) and ZnO; 2) NC, devoid of SDPP and ZnO; 3) PS, as NC + 3% of FPM; 4) PSZ, as PS + ZnO; 5) PSS, as PS + 0.2% LAFP; 6) PSSZ, as PS + 0.1% LAFP + ZnO. Experimental diets were provided in phase 1 (14 d) and 2 (14 d), while a common phase 3 (14 d) diet was fed (ME: 3.4 kcal/g; SID Lys: 1.29%). Feed grade amino acids were added to meet SID AA/Lys ratio requirements. Data were analyzed using PROC Mixed of SAS with treatment as the lone fixed effect. Both PSZ and PSSZ fed groups restored overall phase 1&2 and overall weight gain compared to NC, and had similar end BW when compared to PC (Table 1). PSZ and PSSZ fed pigs had similar G:F in phase 2 when compared to PC fed pigs. In phase 3, however, G:F was lower in PSZ than PC fed pigs, which is most likely due to higher intake when a common diet was fed. Adding LAFP in PSZ diets during phase 1 and 2 appeared to ameliorate the subsequent phase 3 reduction of feed efficiency in pigs previously fed PSZ diets. We concluded that FPM can be used to replace spry dried plasma in nursery pigs in combination with LAFP and ZnO without impacting growth performance.

Table 1 Effect of FMP and LAFP on growth performance of nursery pigs (LS means)

	PC	NC	PS	PSZ	PSS	PSSZ	SEM	Trt
ADG, kg/d
Phase 1 & 2	0.196bc	0.158a	0.162ab	0.231c	0.138a	0.213c	0.013	<0.01
Overall	0.348bc	0.322ab	0.313a	0.368c	0.302a	0.355c	0.011	<0.01
BW, kg
End of phase 3	18.96bc	18.06ab	17.60a	19.71c	17.32a	19.21c	0.63	<0.01
ADFI, kg/d
Phase 3	0.840x	0.835x	0.826x	0.949y	0.818x	0.862xy	0.040	0.07
G:F
Phase 2	0.825d	0.722abc	0.716ab	0.776bcd	0.698a	0.783cd	0.023	<0.01
Phase 3	0.714b	0.698b	0.670ab	0.610a	0.688b	0.672ab	0.023	<0.05