Effects of adding protease with or without fructooligosaccharide (FOS) to low protein diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and fecal noxious gas emission were evaluated in 160 finishing pigs (57.70 ± 1.16 kg) in a 9-week study. Pigs were randomly divided into four dietary treatments, PC: positive control diet (15.97% crude protein (CP)); NC: negative control diet (12.94% CP); PRO: NC supplemented with 0.05% protease; PROFOS: NC supplemented with 0.05% protease and 0.1% FOS. During weeks 4-9 and weeks 0-9, gain : feed ratio was impaired (P < 0.05) in pigs fed NC diet compared with those fed PC, PRO and PROFOS diets. Pigs fed PC, PRO and PROFOS diets had higher (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of CP than pigs fed NC diet. Pigs fed PROFOS diet had reduced (P < 0.05) ammonia emissions compared to pigs fed NC and PRO diets. These data indicate that reducing dietary CP concentrations impaired growth performance, decreased ATTD of CP and reduced ammonia emissions. Supplementation of protease in low CP diet improved growth performance and increased ATTD of CP. Dietary supplementation with protease and FOS in low CP diet improved growth performance, increased ATTD of CP and decreased fecal ammonia emission.

A total of 180 crossbred pigs [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] with an average body weight of 22.61 ± 1.23 kg were used in an 18 wk study to determine the effect of protease and bromelain in low-protein diets in grower–finisher pigs. Dietary treatments included: T1, basal diet treatment; T2, low-protein treatment; T3 (T2 + 0.2 g kg−1 protease); and T4 (T2 + 0.3 g kg−1 bromelain). Pigs fed protease- and bromelain-supplemented diets increased average daily gain and gain to feed ratio at week 18, dry matter and nitrogen digestibility at week 6, as well as energy digestibility at week 12, compared with low-protein diet (P < 0.05). Pigs fed T3 and T4 diets led to a trend of decreased (P < 0.05) blood urine nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine concentrations at the 12th wk. A reduction of ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emission was observed in pigs fed the dietary protease and bromelain supplementation at the 6th wk (P < 0.05). There was no effect on all parameters between the protease and bromelain supplementation treatments. In conclusion, supplementation of protease and bromelain to low-protein diet enhanced growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and reduced NH3 and H2S in growing–finishing pigs.

This study evaluated the efficacy of antibiotics and a synbiotic in growing-finishing pigs. One hundred twenty-eight pigs (25.29 ± 1.33 kg) were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments: (1) control, basal diet throughout the experiment (CON); (2) basal diet during days 0-42 and basal diet supplemented with synbiotic (1 g/kg probiotics and 1 g/kg prebiotic) during days 42-119 (CS); (3) basal diet supplemented with 1 g/kg antibiotics during days 0-42 and basal diet during days 42-119 (AC); (4) basal diet supplemented with 1 g/kg antibiotics during days 0-42 and basal diet supplemented with synbiotic during days 42-119 (AS). During days 0-42, pigs fed the AC and AS diets had higher average daily gain and gain to feed ratio compared with pigs offered CON and CS diets (P < 0.05). Pigs offered the AC and AS diets had greater (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter and gross matter (days 40-42) and lower (P < 0.05) counts of lactic acid bacteria (day 42) compared with those fed the CON and AC diets. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that supplementation with synbiotic in pigs had no effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and faecal microbial shedding after supplementation with or without antibiotics in growing phase.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of phytogenic blends on the performance of sows during the gestating and lactating periods and suckling piglets. Fifty-one multiparous sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) were randomly distributed into three treatments (17 sows per treatment): T1 (basal diet); T2 (T1 + 0.05% AC blend (Astragalus membranaceus and Chinese Liquorice); T3 (T1 + 0.05% SL blend (Scutellaria baicalensis and Lonicera japonica). Feeding the sows with diets supplemented with AC and SL blends decreased (P < 0.05) bodyweight loss after farrowing to weanling. The number of piglets, average daily feed intake, backfat thickness, and oestrus interval was not influenced (P > 0.05) by diets. Suckling piglets of sows fed with AC and SL blends showed higher (P < 0.05) weanling bodyweight and average daily gain weight. Piglet survival rate and birthweight were not affected by treatments. Feeding sows with AC and/or SL blends did not significantly influence the composition of colostrum or milk. There was not any significant impact on faecal score of suckling piglets. These results indicated that supplementation of phytogenic blends to the diet of sows during gestating and lactating period led to a decline in bodyweight loss after farrowing and could improve litter performance.

We assessed the possibly synergistic effects of dietary fiber (DF) and benzoic acid (BA) in growingfinishing pigs. In total, 96 growing pigs ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) with an average initial body weight (BW) of 22.82 (±0.24) kg were selected and provided the dietary supplements based on their BW in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment, with the respective factors being fiber (low vs. high; 140 g/kg, 160 g/kg NSP, respectively) and BA (0, 5 g/kg benzoic acid) in six replicate pens consisting of four pigs per pen. Sugar beet pulp was used as a DF source, at 50 g/kg of the diet. All diets were formulated to contain 14.44 ME MJ/kg and 190 g/kg CP. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and reduction of harmful gases and serum metabolites. There was no significant difference in feed intake and weight gains during treatments. Fiber levels and benzoic acid addition did not affect the dry matter, nitrogen and gross energy digestibility. Also, no interaction was found between fiber level and benzoic acid treatment. There was no difference in NH 3 , but RSH and H 2 S gases emissions show significant reduction with fiber and benzoic acid treatment. Serum metabolites, including lipoprotein and cholesterol, were also apparently unaffected by these treatments. Thus, the addition of 50 g sugar beet pulp per kg of growing feed as a DF source and the addition of BA had no significant impact on the growth performance of pigs during the growth period.