Four experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON) from naturally contaminated dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and the efficacy of feed additives in nursery pig diets. In Exp. 1, 180 pigs (10.3 ± 0.2 kg BW) were fed 1 of 5 diets for 21 d. Diets were 1) Positive Control (PC; < 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) Negative Control (NC; 4 mg/kg DON), 3) NC + 0.10% Biofix (Biomin Inc., Herzogenburg, Austria), 4) NC + 0.15% Cel-can (VAST Inc., Mason City, IA) and 0.50% bentonite clay, and 5) NC + 0.25% Defusion Plus (Cargill Animal Nutrition, Minneapolis, MN). Pigs fed the NC diet had poorer ( < 0.01) ADG than those fed the PC. Pigs fed Defusion Plus had improved ( < 0.03) ADG over those fed NC, whereas pigs fed Biofix or Cel-can with bentonite clay had reduced ADG ( < 0.01) compared with those fed PC. In Exp. 2, 340 pigs (11.7 ± 0.1 kg BW) were fed 1 of 8 diets for 21 d. Diets were 1) PC (< 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) Low NC (1.5 mg/kg DON), 3) Low NC + 0.15% Biofix, 4) Low NC + 0.30% Biofix, 5) High NC (3.0 mg/kg DON), 6) High NC + 0.30% Biofix, 7) High NC + 0.45% Biofix, and 8) Diet 7 with 5% added water. Increasing the DON level reduced (linear; < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and pig BW, and Biofix did not improve performance. In Exp. 3, 1,008 pigs (12.5 ± 0.3 kg BW) were fed 6 treatments for 24 d. Diets were 1) PC ( < 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) NC (3 mg/kg DON), 3) NC + 0.25% Defusion, 4) NC + 0.50% Defusion, 5) Diet 3 with supplemental nutrients, and 6) Diet 5, pelleted. Pigs fed the NC had decreased ( < 0.01) ADG and ADFI, but adding Defusion improved (linear; < 0.04) ADG and ADFI over pigs fed NC. Pelleting improved ( < 0.01) both ADG and G:F, resulting in ADG above PC pigs. In Exp. 4, 980 pigs (12.0 ± 0.3 kg BW) were fed 1 of 7 diets in a 28-d trial in a 2 × 3 + 1 factorial arrangement. The 7 treatments were based on 3 diets fed in meal or pellet form: 1) PC (< 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) NC (3 mg/kg DON), and 3) NC + 0.25% Defusion. Treatment 7 was Diet 3 with supplemental nutrients in pellet form. No interactions were observed between pelleting and Defusion. Pigs fed the NC had decreased ( < 0.01) ADG and ADFI, and pelleting improved ( < 0.01) ADG to PC levels, driven by improved ( < 0.01) G:F. Adding nutrients or Defusion had no effect. Overall, these studies show that Defusion and pelleting can help overcome some of the negative effects of DON, whereas other feed additives and additional nutrients do not.

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of varying concentrations of supplemental vitamin D3 on pig growth, feed preference, serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25(OH)D3] , and bone mineralization of nursing and weanling pigs. In Exp. 1, 270 pigs (1.71 ± 0.01 kg BW) were administered 1 of 3 oral vitamin D3 dosages (none, 40,000, or 80,000 IU vitamin D3) on d 1 or 2 of age. Increasing oral vitamin D3 increased serum 25(OH)D3 on d 10 and 20 (quadratic, P < 0.01) and d 30 (linear, P < 0.01). No differences were observed in ADG before weaning or for nursery ADG, ADFI, or G:F. Vitamin D3 concentration had no effect on bone ash concentration or bone histological traits evaluated on d 19 or 35. In Exp. 2, 398 barrows (initially 7 d of age) were used in a 2 × 2 split plot design to determine the influence of vitamin D3 before (none or 40,000 IU vitamin D3 in an oral dose) or after weaning (1,378 or 13,780 IU vitamin D3/kg in nursery diets from d 21 to 31 of age) in a 45-d trial. Before weaning (7 to 21 d of age), oral vitamin D3 dose did not influence growth but increased (P < 0.01) serum 25(OH)D3 at weaning (d 21) and tended (P = 0.08) to increase 25(OH)D3 on d 31. Increasing dietary vitamin D3 concentration from d 21 to 31 increased (P < 0.01) serum 25(OH)D3 on d 31. Neither the oral vitamin D3 dose nor nursery vitamin D3 supplements influenced nursery ADG, ADFI, or G:F. In Exp. 3, 864 pigs (initially 21 d of age) were allotted to 1 of 2 water solubilized vitamin D3 treatments (none or 16,516 IU/L vitamin D3 provided in the drinking water from d 0 to 10) in a 30-d study. Providing vitamin D3 increased serum 25(OH)D3 concentrations on d 10, 20, and 30; however, vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect overall (d 0 to 30) ADG, ADFI, or G:F. In Exp. 4, 72 pigs were used in a feed preference study consisting of 2 feed preference comparisons. Pigs did not differentiate diets containing either 1,378 or 13,780 IU vitamin D3/kg but consumed less (P < 0.01) of a diet containing 44,100 IU vitamin D3/kg compared with the diet containing 1,378 IU vitamin D3/kg. Overall, these studies demonstrate that supplementing vitamin D3 above basal concentrations used in these studies is effective at increasing circulating 25(OH)D3, but the supplement did not influence growth or bone mineralization. Also, concentrations of vitamin D3 of 44,100 IU/kg of the diet may negatively affect feed preference of nursery pigs.

Plasma urea N (PUN) has been used as an indicator of AA requirements and efficiency of AA utilization in swine. However, PUN concentrations vary among a population of pigs, even a population with a close range of BW and fed the same diet. Thus, pretreatment or baseline PUN concentrations are used as a covariate to reduce variation of posttreatment PUN. However, this procedure increases experimental costs and stress to the pigs. Data from 14 experiments (26 to 28 d in duration) conducted using PUN as a response variable were compiled into 1 data set. Each experiment had 4 to 6 treatments. The purpose of this technical report was to summarize the effect of determining pretreatment baseline PUN concentrations on subsequent posttreatment PUN concentrations in 20- to 50-kg pigs. In all experiments, pigs were fed corn- and soybean meal-based diets and low-CP diets with various AA additions; pigs were assigned to dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with a minimum of 4 replicates of 3 to 5 pigs each. Before the start of each experiment, all pigs were fed a common diet for a minimum of 3 d. Blood samples were collected from each pig before allotment to dietary treatments (d 0) and at the end of each experiment. The baseline (d 0) PUN was analyzed as a covariate for posttreatment PUN. Data from each experiment were analyzed without and with baseline PUN in the statistical model. In all experiments combined, there were 768 possible treatment comparisons. The covariate baseline PUN was statistically significant (P < 0.10) in 9 of 14 experiments. However, only 8 treatment differences changed statistical significance as a result of analyzing the data with baseline PUN as a covariate. These 8 treatment differences were in 3 experiments. These results indicate that it is not always necessary to determine baseline PUN concentrations when feeding diets with large differences in AA content.

Seventy-two primiparous and multiparous sows (36 per dietary treatment) farrowed in 4 groups were used to evaluate the effects of spray-dried plasma protein (SDP) on sow and litter performance during lactation. Dietary lactation treatments consisted of a corn-soybean meal control and a corn-soybean meal diet containing 0.5% SDP. Both diets were formulated to contain 1.0% total Lys and 3.46 Mcal/kg of ME and were fed from d 107 +/- 1.2 of gestation to weaning. Sows were allotted to dietary treatment based on breed, parity, and the date of d 107 of gestation. Litters were standardized within diet, and pigs were weaned at an average age of 19 +/- 2.1 d. Sows were fed 3 times daily during lactation. After weaning, sows were fed a common gestation diet and checked twice daily for estrus. Sows were grouped by parity (young sows, 3) for statistical analysis. The data were analyzed as a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments; the factors were parity (3) and SDP (0 or 0.5%). Treatment differences were considered significant at P < 0.10. Mature sows had a greater BW on d 107 of gestation, on d 1 postfarrowing, and at weaning; greater lactation ADFI; and greater litter BW after cross-fostering, but pig survival to weaning was decreased. Sows fed SDP had a greater gestation interval, litter BW at weaning, and litter ADG, with 1 less lactation day. The effect of SDP addition was dependent on sow parity, as noted by numerous SDP x parity interactions. The addition of SDP increased lactation ADFI in mature sows but decreased ADFI in young sows. Mature sows fed SDP had a greater number of pigs weaned per litter, litter and pig weaning weights, pig survival to weaning, and number of pigs weaned per litter weighing more than 3.6 kg, but the SDP diet had little to no effect on these responses in young sows. Subsequent farrowing data were collected, but no dietary treatment effects (P > 0.10) were observed. The results of this research indicate that SDP increased productivity of sows in parity 4 or greater.

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