Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of coated omega-3 fatty acid (n-3 CFA) by corn cob power silica on performance of weaning pigs. A total of 200 weaned pigs [(Landrace x Yorkshire) x Duroc, average initial body weight at 6.97 ± 1.22 kg] were randomly assigned to four experimental treatments in a 6-week experiment in 3 phases as follows: CON, basal diet; 2) 0.3CFA, CON + phase 1(0.3% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.2% n-3CFA), phase 3(0.1% n-3CFA); 3) 0.6CFA, CON + phase 1(0.6% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.4% n-3CFA), phase 3(0.2% n-3CFA); 4) 0.9CFA, CON + phase 1(0.9% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.6% n-3CFA), phase 3 (0.3% n-3CFA). Each treatment had 10 replicates with 5 pigs (three gilts and two barrows) per replicate. The data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS as a randomized complete block design. Pen served as the experimental unit. Linear, quadratic and cubic polynomial contrasts were used to examine effect of dietary treatment with coated n-3FA in the basal diet. Variability in the data was expressed as the standard error of means and P< 0.05 was considered to statistically significant. Increasing the level of n-3CFA in the diet linearly increased ADG and G/F of pigs (Table 1). Increasing the level of n-3CFA showed a linear increment in the digestibility of DM (83.59, 84.38, 85.13, 85.89 %) whereas nitrogen digestibility (81.79, 82.38, 82.96, 83.64 %) showed a trend (linear effect, p=0.0594) at the end of experiment. The fecal lactobacillus count was increased (7.22, 7.27, 7.33, 7.35 log10cfu/g) with the increase in the supplemental level of n-3CFA (linear effect; p< 0.05). However, there were no differences in the concentration of serum haptoglobin, or fecal E. coli, Clostridium and Salmonella counts despite the increase in n-3CFA levels in the diet. Supplementation of the diet with coated n-3 fatty acids positively affected growth performance and digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen, and enhanced the count of lactobacillus in weaning pigs.
Effects of dietary amylose to amylopectin ratio on growth performance, carcass quality characteristics and meat fatty acids in Chinese Qinchuan cattle
