Abstract
A total of 1,215 pigs (L337 × 1050, PIC, Hendersonville, TN) were used to determine the effect of microencapsulated organic acids and botanicals (MOB; AviPlus; Vetagro, Inc. Chicago, IL), on growth performance from weaning to market. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age and placed in pens based on initial body weight (BW) with 27 pigs per pen in a randomized complete block design. During the 42-day nursery period, pigs were allotted to 1 of 2 treatments in an unbalanced treatment structure with 15 pens (replications) fed the control diet and 30 pens (replications) fed diets containing 0.30% MOB from d 0 to 21 and 0.10% from d 21 to 42. On d 42, pigs were transported as intact pens from the nursery to the finishing facility. During the finishing period, 3 treatments were applied which included: 1) pigs on the control diet in nursery remained on control diets; 2) 50% of pigs provided MOB in nursery were then fed 0.05% MOB throughout finishing, and 3) 50% of pigs provided MOB in nursery were then fed the control diet throughout finishing. All pens of pigs on treatments 2 and 3 were allotted based on ending nursery BW to the finishing treatment. There were 15 replications per treatment in the finishing period. From d 0 to 21, pigs fed diets with MOB had a tendency for increased (P < 0.058) gain:feed (G:F) when compared to pigs fed the control diet; however, there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) for average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), or d 21 BW. From d 21 to 42, there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) for ADG, ADFI, or G:F. For the overall nursery period (d 0 to 42), pigs fed diets with MOB had increased (P < 0.05) G:F (660 vs 670 g/kg) when compared to pigs fed the control diet, but there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) for d 42 BW, ADG, or ADFI between treatments. From d 42 to 106, there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) for ADG, ADFI, and G:F. For the overall finishing period (d 42 to 156) and overall experimental period (d 0 to 156), there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) for BW, ADG, ADFI, or G:F. For mortality and removals, there was no evidence of difference (P > 0.05) observed during the nursery, finishing, or overall. In summary, providing MOB during the nursery phase increased G:F in the early and overall nursery phase, but there was no effect on overall wean-to-finish performance.
Effects of microbial phytase supplementation of a barley-soybean meal diet on the performance and bone mineralization of growing-finishing pigs
