scholarly journals Dietary Supplementation with Compound Probiotics and Berberine Alters Piglet Production Performance and Fecal Microbiota

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 511
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiang Xu ◽  
Canyu Yang ◽  
Juan Chang ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Qingqiang Yin ◽  
...  

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with compound probiotics and berberine (CPB) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and fecal microflora in weaned piglets. A total of 200 piglets 35 days old were randomly allocated to 5 groups, 4 replications in each group, and 10 piglets in each replication. Group A was the basal diet; group B was supplemented with antibiotics and zinc oxide; groups C, D and E were supplemented with 0.06%, 0.12% and 0.18% CPB, respectively. The experimental period was 42 d. The results indicated that there were no significant differences in average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion rate (FCR) among five groups (p > 0.05). However, mortality, diarrhea and rejection rates in the control group were higher than that in other groups. CPB could increase protein digestibility and serum IgG content (p < 0.05), while it could decrease serum urea nitrogen content and alkaline phosphatase activity (p < 0.05). Analysis of fecal microbiota showed that the relative abundances of Bacteroides and Firmicutes were increased, while the relative abundances of opportunistic pathogens such as Spirochaetae and Protebactreria were dramatically decreased in piglets fed with CPB or antibiotics, compared with the control group. Furthermore, CPB intervention increased the relative abundances of Prevotella_9, Megasphaera and Prevotella_2, while decreased the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group. Correlation analysis revealed that there was good correlation between serum indexes and fecal microbiota. It was suggested that CPB might be a promising antibiotic alternative for improving piglet health and immunity, decreasing mortality by positively altering gut microbiota.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xupeng Yuan ◽  
Jiahao Yan ◽  
Ruizhi Hu ◽  
Yanli Li ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
...  

Recent evidences suggest that gut microbiota plays an important role in regulating physiological and metabolic activities of pregnant sows, and β-carotene has a potentially positive effect on reproduction, but the impact of β-carotene on gut microbiota in pregnant sows remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the effect and mechanisms of β-carotene on the reproductive performance of sows from the aspect of gut microbiota. A total of 48 hybrid pregnant sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) with similar parity were randomly allocated into three groups (n = 16) and fed with a basal diet or a diet containing 30 or 90 mg/kg of β-carotene from day 90 of gestation until parturition. Dietary supplementation of 30 or 90 mg/kg β-carotene increased the number of live birth to 11.82 ± 1.54 and 12.29 ± 2.09, respectively, while the control group was 11.00 ± 1.41 (P = 0.201). Moreover, β-carotene increased significantly the serum nitric oxide (NO) level and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity (P &lt; 0.05). Characterization of fecal microbiota revealed that 90 mg/kg β-carotene increased the diversity of the gut flora (P &lt; 0.05). In particular, β-carotene decreased the relative abundance of Firmicutes including Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group, Lachnospiraceae NK4B4 group and Ruminococcaceae UCG-008, but enriched Proteobacteria including Bilophila and Sutterella, and Actinobacteria including Corynebacterium and Corynebacterium 1 which are related to NO synthesis. These data demonstrated that dietary supplementation of β-carotene may increase antioxidant enzyme activity and NO, an important vasodilator to promote the neonatal blood circulation, through regulating gut microbiota in sows.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1581
Author(s):  
Artur Rybarczyk ◽  
Elżbieta Bogusławska-Wąs ◽  
Alicja Dłubała

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of probiotic bacteria Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis on microbiological properties of feed mixtures and on the digestive tract content as applicable to production traits and carcass characteristics of fatteners. The experiment was performed on 83,838 fatteners from four successive (insertions) productions in two groups. From the seventy eighth day of age till marketing to the slaughter plant, the pigs were supplied with BioPlus YC probiotic (Chr. Hansen) in the amount of 400 g/t. The preparation contained a complex of probiotic bacteria Bacillus licheniformis DSM 5749, and Bacillus subtilis DSM 5750 spores in a 1:1 ratio. From the fourth insertion, after reaching a body weight of approximately 112 kg, 60 fatteners were selected from each group to measure carcass quality and half of them for meat quality evaluation. Moreover, microbiological analyses in feed and colon were performed. The study showed that BioPlus YC probiotics supplementation resulted in a significantly higher count of B. subtilis and B. licheniformis in the feed, a higher count of B. subtilis, B. licheniformis and LAB, as well as a lower count of Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, Clostridium and Bacillus sp. in the mucosa and in the colorectal content of the test pigs. Our work has shown that supplementation with the BioPlus YC probiotic had a positive effect on the production traits of pigs mainly by reducing mortality (2.83%, p = 0.010), lowering feed conversion ratio—FCR (2.59 kg/kg, p = 0.013), better average daily gain—ADG (0.95 kg/day, p = 0.002) and shorter fattening period (77.25 days, p = 0.019) when compared to the control group (4.19%; 2.79 kg/kg; 0.89 kg/day; 92.8 days, respectively). The addition of the specific Bacillus bacteria did not influence carcass and meat characteristics of the test fatteners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 403-405
Author(s):  
Koo Deokho ◽  
Dang De Xin ◽  
Gao Shanshui ◽  
Lim Chain Bin ◽  
Kim Inho

Abstract This study was carried out to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of enzymatic bio-conversion of Scuterallia baicalensis (SB) extract on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbiota, fecal gas emission, blood hematology, and antioxidative indicators in growing pigs. A total of 200 crossbred pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an initial body weight of 24.52 ± 1.99 kg were used in a 42-day experiment with a completely randomized block design. Pigs were randomly divided into 4 treatment groups with 10 replicate pens per treatment and 5 animals per pen (2 barrows and 3 gilts). There were four diet conditions: 1) CON, basal diet; 2) TRT1, basal diet + 0.1% apramycin; 3) TRT2, basal diet + 0.1% SB extract; 4) TRT3, basal diet + 0.1% enzymatic bio-conversion of SB extract. The pen was taken as the experimental unit. Tukey’s multiple range test was used for evaluation of differences among the treatments. Compared with the CON group, TRT1 or TRT3 groups had higher final body weight (BW) (P = 0.074) and average daily gain (ADG) (P = 0.075), and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P = 0.054). The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM) (P = 0.095) in TRT1 group was higher than that in CON group. Serum glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (P = 0.047) and glutathione (GSH) (P = 0.074) concentrations in TRT3 group were higher than those in CON or TRT1 groups. However, there were no significant differences in fecal microbiota, fecal gas emission, and blood hematology among all dietary groups. A positive correlation between apramycin supplementation in the diet and ADG and the ATTD of DM were observed. A positive correlation between enzymatic bio-conversion of SB extract supplementation in the diet and ADG and the concentration of GPX and GSH in serum were also observed.


Author(s):  
De Xin Dang ◽  
In Ho Kim

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of Quillaja saponin (QS) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbiota, and fecal gas emission in growing pigs. A total of 50 crossbred growing pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] with an initial body weight of 23.83 ± 1.95 kg were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments for a 56-day trial with 5 replicate pens per treatment and 5 pigs (2 barrows and 3 gilts) per pen. Dietary treatments including control diet and control diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg QS. The average daily gain was significantly increased during days 0-56, while the fecal ammonia emission on day 56 and fecal coliform bacteria counts on day 28 were significantly decreased in pigs fed with QS containing diet. However, dietary supplementation of QS had no significant effects on apparent total tract digestibility. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 200 mg/kg QS had beneficial effects on growth performance, fecal microbiota, and fecal gas emission in growing pigs. Considering the carry-over effects, the adaption period should be at least 28 days when supplementing 200 mg/kg QS to the diet of growing pigs for improving the growth performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
E Parvin ◽  
MA Khatun ◽  
T Yeasmin ◽  
MM Sharmin

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementing of exogenous phytase enzyme on productivity of commercial broilers. Four strains of commercial broiler such as Fast feather, Arbor acres, Cobb-500 and Hubbard classic each having 78 numbers were reared for a period of 5 weeks. A total number of 312 day old broiler chicks were distributed into two dietary treatments i.e. basal diet (Control-T0) and basal diet supplemented with phytase enzyme 1g/kg feed (supplemented-T1). The results indicated that broilers fed on diets supplemented with phytase have gained more body weight when compared with control group (P<0.05). The first and second highest body weights were recorded for the strains Cobb-500 and First feather broilers, respectively, which feed on diet containing phytase.   Feed consumption varied significantly between the broilers on different dietary regimes. Significant differences (P<0.01) were found in feed conversion ratios among the birds fed on diet with phytase enzyme. The lowest feed conversion ratio was in Cobb-500 fed on phytase diet where as the highest was in Fast Feather provided with only basal diet during the 5th week of age. Average feed conversion ratios were 1.73 and 1.86 for the supplemented and control group respectively. Use of phytase as feed additive in the diet resulted in high profitability/ broiler. Net profit per live broiler was the also higher in treatment group compared with control groups of birds. The highest net profit per live broiler was observed in Arbor Across strains fed on phytase diet. The result of the present study suggests that the addition of dietary phytase enzyme in the diet of broiler may increase the production performance and reduce the cost of production.Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2016. 45 (3): 31-39


2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Yesmin ◽  
ME Uddin ◽  
R Chacrabati ◽  
M Al-Mamun

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of methionine supplementation on feed intake, nutrient digestibility and growth performance of growing rabbit. Sixteen weaned crossbred New Zealand White (NZW) growing rabbits (30-35 d) were distributed into four treatment groups having four replications in each group using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Basal diet composed of green grass (dhal grass) and concentrate mixture which was offered ad libitum basis for 56 days period. Four levels of methionine such as 0.0% (control), 0.15%, 0.25%, and 0.35% were supplemented randomly to rabbits. Results showed that supplementation of methionine did not affect green grass intake. Cumulative as well as daily concentrate and DM intake were significantly (p<0.05) higher for all methionine groups than control group. Final body weight gain as well as daily, weekly and cumulative body weight gains were improved significantly with increasing level of methionine. It was found that methionine had significant (p<0.01) effect on digestibility of DM, CP, NFE and EE but CF digestibility did not differ significantly. Digestibility was improved with increasing the level of methionine. Feed conversion ratio also decreased significantly with methionine supplementation, and 0.25% methionine group showed the best performance among the four treatments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v42i1.15777 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2013. 42 (1): 40 43


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Yongjie Chen ◽  
Yanju Bi ◽  
Peng Zhao ◽  
Hanqing Sun ◽  
...  

In order to investigate the effect of gentle handling on the behavior, performance, and meat quality of pigs from weaning to slaughter, 144 6-week-old weaned hybrid Min piglets (a native breed) were selected and divided into a handling group (HG: 9 pens × 8 pigs) and a control group (CG: 9 pens × 8 pigs). After 6 weeks of handling, we observed and then evaluated the pigs’ responses to a handler with behavioral scores. Moreover, we measured heart rate and production performance. Three pigs were randomly selected from each of the 18 pens and divided into a handling group (HG: n = 27) and a control group (CG: n = 27), and the HG pigs were given gentle handling until slaughter. Subsequently, we evaluated meat quality and the production performance of six pigs from each group. The results show that AA test (approaching–avoidance test) scores in HG pigs, the number of contacts with the handler and absence of contact with the handler, were significantly higher than in the CG pigs (p < 0.01). The occurrences of avoidance and looking at the handler were lower in the HG than in the CG group (p < 0.01); however, heart rate was not found to be significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.63). No significant difference was found in the average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio between the two groups during the two periods (p > 0.05). The b* value was determined 45 min after slaughter, and it was significantly lower in the HG than that in the CG group (p = 0.002). Furthermore, 2 h after slaughter, the L value of the HG group was significantly higher than that of the CG group (p = 0.047), but no difference was observed in carcass quality or other meat quality indicators between the two groups (p > 0.05). The results indicate that gentle handling could reduce pigs’ anxiety and increase their willingness to approach the handler, increasing the intimacy of the pigs and handlers. However, long-term gentle handling had little effect on pig performance, carcass quality, and meat quality.


Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Alagawany ◽  
Mohamed Abd El-Hack ◽  
Adham Al-Sagheer ◽  
Mohammed Naiel ◽  
Islam Saadeldin ◽  
...  

The present study assessed the effect of dietary supplementation with coconut oil (CNO), watercress oil (WCO), and their mixture as promoters of growth, antioxidant status, immunity, and intestinal microbiota in growing rabbits. A total of 120 rabbits were distributed into six groups (20 rabbits/group) receiving a basal diet without supplementation (G1) or diet supplemented with 2 g CNO (G2), 2 g WCO (G3), 0.5 g CNO plus 1.5 g WCO (G4), 1 g CNO plus 1 g WCO (G5), or 1.5 g CNO plus 0.5 g WCO/kg (G6). Live body weight and feed conversion ratio were significantly higher in the G4 and G5 groups than in the other groups. Superoxide dismutase activity and reduced glutathione concentration were significantly improved in the CNO or WCO diets. Supplemental CNO plus WCO at all tested levels produced the best lysozyme and complement 3 activities. Cecal lactobacilli, coliform, Enterobacteriaceae, and Clostridium spp. populations were lower in the group who received the 1 g CNO + 1 g WCO/kg diet than that in the control group. Dietary supplementation of 1 g CNO + 1 g WCO or 0.5 g CNO + 1.5 g WCO/kg had the potential to improve growth, feed utilization, antioxidant status, and immunity, and reduce cecal pathogenic bacteria in rabbits.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1491
Author(s):  
Yusuf A. Adeniji ◽  
Musafau O. Sanni ◽  
Khalid A. Abdoun ◽  
Emad M. Samara ◽  
Mohamed A. Al-Badwi ◽  
...  

Water scarcity is a common phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions, which could have tremendous effects on livestock production. This study aimed to determine the level of water restriction that lambs fed on a pelleted diet can tolerate without compromising their production performance. A total of 24 male Najdi lambs were housed individually and randomly allocated into three equal groups, namely ad libitum water intake, 33% water-intake restriction, and 67% water-intake restriction. Dry-matter intake, feed conversion ratio, and average daily gain were decreased (p < 0.05) with the increasing level of water restriction. Water restriction had also reduced (p < 0.05) nutrient digestibility. The water-conserving ability of the water-restricted lambs was manifested by the production of concentrated and lower (p < 0.05) quantities of urine and feces. Meanwhile, serum osmolality and concentrations of albumin, total protein, urea-N, glucose, and non-esterified fatty acids were increased (p < 0.05) with the increasing levels of water restriction. It is surprising that lambs subjected to 67% water restriction retained more (p < 0.05) nitrogen relative to intake and had better (p < 0.05) efficiency of nitrogen utilization. It was strongly evident that lambs could tolerate water-intake restriction of up to 33% without compromising their production performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-209
Author(s):  
Y. Yang ◽  
J.H. Park ◽  
I.H. Kim

A total of 150 weaning pigs (7.53 ± 1.23 kg) were randomly assigned to three treatments consisting of basal diet, and the basal diet supplemented with 300 and 600 mg kg−1 of probiotics, respectively, in a 42 d trial. The incremental levels of probiotics linearly increased average daily gain during week 1 and through the overall experimental period (P < 0.05). The average daily feed intake, body weight, and the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, and gross energy also increased (P < 0.05) with the increased level of probiotics. A significant reduction in Escherichia coli counts (P = 0.0037) and increase (P = 0.0016) in Lactobacillus counts were observed on day 42.


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