The production of motor fuel from rapeseed oil forms large amounts of glycerol as a waste product (about 100 g per kg oil). The aim of this experiment was to test glycerol as a component in diets of fattening pigs. In two experiments received 48 pigs (Pietrain x F1, Landrace x German breed) up to 30% glycerol in barley-soya bean oil meal diets. Six pigs per group with an initial weight of 32 kg (experiment 1) and 31.2 kg (experiment 2) in average received the diets semi ad libitum during the whole fattening periods. Barley was replaced by glycerol, that the content of glycerol in diets amounted 5 and 10% (1st exp.) and 5; 10; 20 and 30% in the 2nd exp. respectively. The feed intake was in order of groups up to slaughtering in exp. 1: 1.98; 2.17 and 2.23 kg DM/animal and day and in exp. 2 over 71 days: 2.26; 2.44; 2.54; 2.32 and 2.37 kg DM/animal and day. The sweet taste and the better feed structure of diets with glycerol supplementation is the reason for the higher feed intake in the groups with a glycerol supplement. The daily live weight gain was in the same order 631; 719; 754; 731; 770; 819; 704 and 598 g/animal resp. The feed conversion ratio was only in the group with 30% glycerol significant different from all other groups (3.96 against 2.95-3.30 kg DM/kg live weight gain). 30 min. after feeding the glycerol concentration in blood rose evident with higher glycerol content in diets. It was also found a higher glycerol content in the urine in dependence on the glycerol concentration in the blood. Glycerol in diets changed not the carcass yield and the meat quality. Pathological changes of liver and kidney of animals were not found after glycerol feeding. Amounts of glycerol up to 10% in the diet are recommended.

The periparturient period of animals (and humans) is very stressful and influenced by the microecosystem of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Performance and productivity of animal husbandry depend on the health of animal mothers and their offspring. We investigated the influence of prebiotic amounts of lactulose in sows and their piglets. Two experimental trial sows received daily 30 ml lactulose, 71 field trial sows received daily 45 ml lactulose during their periparturient period (10 days before until 10 days after parturison). The weaners of trial sows received 15 ml lactulose per 1 kg baby food 10 days before and 10 days after weaning.The effect of lactulose was recorded by performance parameters like number of piglet born alive, losses until weaning, body mass of piglets, daily weight gain of weaners until 35 days after weaning. The effect of lactulose on GIT microflora was estimated by bacterial counts of faeces of sows (total aerobic bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, Clostridium (C.) perfringens). In order to show a previously unknown effect of lactulose we investigated the levels of antibodies to phospholipase C (PLC) of C. perfringens in plasma of experimental sows and in colostral and ripe milk of field sows. Lactulose influenced the performance parameters of sows in a non-significant way. In case of weaners we recorded significant daily weight gains. Lactulose significantly influenced total aerobic bacterial counts, C. perfringens counts in faeces of sows 20 days after parturison. Under experimental conditions it was shown that trial sows and their piglets had higher IgG-antibody levels to C. perfringens PLCs than the control animals. Similar results were found under field conditions. Trial sows had significant higher IgG-anti LPS (J5) antibodies in milk 10 days after birth.

Three diets with varying amino acid levels were fed in two nitrogen balance studies and two fattening experiments in order to determine the nitrogen retention and growth performance of boars of different sire lines. A total of 12 boars, 6 crossbreed boars sired by Piétrain boars (Study 1) and 6 crossbreed boars sired by Duroc boars (Study 2) were used in the nitrogen balance studies. Three diets with increasing content of amino acids were used; it was intended to use the same diets in nitrogen balance studies and the fattening experiments in order to compare the N retention and performance of boars during the growth period. The diets used in all experiments contained 13.4 MJ ME and 11.5 g lysine/kg (Diet 1), 13.2 g lysine/kg (Diet 2) and 14.9 g lysine/kg (Diet 3). The increase of the amino acid content of the diets seemed to have only a very minor impact on the nitrogen retention and on the growth performance of growing boars, whereas the location effect was found to be significant.