245 Evaluation of Cellulose in Diets with and Without Added Zno on Nursery Pig Performance

A total of 1,296 pigs (PIC L337×1050; initially 4.8 kg) were used in a 42-d study to evaluate cellulose in diets with and without pharmacological levels of Zn on nursery pig performance. Our hypothesis was that added fiber (cellulose) may provide more benefit in diets without ZnO. Pens were assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments in a RCBD by BW with 27 pigs/pen and 12 pens/treatment. Dietary treatments were arranged in a 2×2 factorial with main effects of cellulose (0 vs 1%; J. Rettenmaier USA, Schoolcraft, MI) and Zn (200 vs. 3,000 mg/kg in phase 1 and 110 vs. 2,000 mg/kg in phase 2). Treatment diets were formulated in two phases fed from d 0 to 7 and 7 to 21 with a common diet fed from d 21 to 42 post-weaning. Pig weights and feed disappearance were collected weekly to determine ADG, ADFI, and G:F. On d 16 or 17, fecal samples were collected from 3 pigs/pen to determine fecal DM, and all pens were visually evaluated for fecal consistency. There were no Zn×cellulose interactions. For the experimental and overall period, pigs fed diets containing added Zn had increased (P < 0.001) ADG, ADFI, G:F and BW while those that were fed cellulose had decreased (P < 0.05) ADG. For fecal dry matter, there was no evidence for difference (P >0.10) between any of the treatments but those fed added ZnO had visually firmer feces as evidenced by lower (P < 0.001) fecal scores. When fed a common diet from d 21 to 42, pigs previously fed added ZnO had increased (P < 0.001) ADG (502 vs. 523 g/d) and ADFI (697 vs. 734 g/d). In conclusion, there were no interactive effects between added cellulose and Zn; however, cellulose reduced ADG while the inclusion of pharmacological levels of Zn improved all growth criteria.

PSVIII-16 The effects of adding two organic acid blends with or without high levels of zinc or copper, on post-weaning pig performance

A subset of 720 weaned pigs (6.44 ± 0.1 kg, PIC genetics, approximately 21-d of age) were used in a 42-d trial with a 2x3 factorial design evaluating the effects of adding organic acid (OA) blends [factor 1 = no organic acid (NO), Acid Pak 1 (AP1), Acid Pak 2 (AP2)] to diets with or without higher levels of Zn or Cu [factor 2 = +/-PZC] on pig performance. Pigs were allotted 10 pigs/pen to 12 weight blocks and randomly assigned the six dietary treatments. The +PZC diets contained 3000 ppm Zn (d 0-7), 2000 ppm Zn (d 8-21), and 250 ppm Cu (d 21-42) and -PZC diets contained 95 ppm Zn and 20 ppm Cu (d 0-42). The AP1 and AP2 diets used 0.9% of 2 acid premixes (d 0-21), and 0.45% of the premixes (day 22-42). AP1 provided 0.5% benzoic acid, 0.07% sodium butyrate, and 0.025% phosphoric acid (day 0-21) and half those levels (day 22-42). AP2 included the same acids as AP1 but at half the rate and combined with 7 other organic acids and carvacrol. From d 0-21, ADG, ADFI, and G:F were improved (P< 0.01) by +PZC compared to -PZC and by AP1 or AP2 compared to NO (P< 0.02). Overall (d 0-42), ADG and G:F were improved (P< 0.01) by +PZC compared to -PZC and by AP1 or AP2 compared to NO (P< .010). Data from this trial indicate that performance was improved by the addition of both OA and PZC. However, pigs fed OA and -PZC performed similarly to those fed NO and +PZC in the post-weaning period. In summary, regardless of the acid combination, organic acid supplementation has the potential to improve growth performance in weaned pigs.

PSIII-2 Considering a large creep pellet as a means to improve suckling and early weaned pig performance

This study evaluated the benefit of creep feeding with large pellets (10mm diameter, Masterfeeds, London, ON, Canada) on pre- and post-weaning pig performance. Litters from two farrowing groups were assigned to one of 2 treatments: Control (no creep n= 25 litters) and Creep (large creep pellets n = 24) during the suckling phase. Pellets were provided beginning 7 d after the first sow farrowed within a group until weaning at 21 d. Pellets were placed in shallow plastic feeders three times/day (100-150 g at a time as needed) to ensure access to fresh feed. Creep pellets contained 2500 ppm zinc and ferric oxide-dyed biscuit crumbles were added at 5% inclusion in Phase 1 nursery diet. Therefore, fecal zinc concentration at 2 to 3d prior to weaning and red fecal coloration 2 to 4d after weaning were used to identify “eaters” from “non-eaters”. Pigs were weaned at 21 ± 2 d into pens based on suckling treatment. Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block with the sows as a random effect (PROC MIXED, SAS Inst., Inc., Cary, NC). Post-weaning fecal swabs data were analyzed by frequency test using the PROC FREQ procedure in SAS. There was no difference in pig weight prior to creep pellets. At weaning, Control pigs were heavier due to greater daily gain (P < 0.01; Table 1) than Creep pigs. However, there was no difference in d34 BW due to greater (P < 0.05) daily gain of Creep pigs in the post-weaning period. A greater proportion of Creep pigs were identified as “eaters” on d2 post-weaning (43 vs 33%, □ 2 = 0.004; Figure 1). Lighter weight at weaning in Creep pigs may be due to temporary distraction from suckling; however, exposure to large creep feed pellets pre-weaning improved pig feed intake and growth post-weaning.

Community composition and development of the post-weaning piglet gut microbiome

ABSTRACTWe report on the largest metagenomic analysis of the pig gut microbiome to date. By processing over 800 faecal time-series samples from 126 piglets and 42 sows, we generated over 8Tbp of metagenomic shotgun sequence data. Here we describe the animal trial procedures, the generation of our metagenomic dataset and the analysis of the microbial community composition using a phylogenetic framework. We assess the effects of intramuscular antibiotic treatment and probiotic oral treatment on the diversity of gut microbial communities. We found differences between individual hosts such as breed, litter, and age, to be important contributors to variation in the community composition. Treatment effects of the antibiotic and probiotic treatments were found but were subtle, while host age was the dominant factor in shaping the gut microbiota of piglets after weaning. The post-weaning pig gut microbiome appears to follow a highly structured developmental program with characteristic post-weaning changes that can distinguish hosts that were born as little as two days apart in the second month of life.