Laskoski, F.; Vier, C. M.; Tokach, M. D.; Dritz, S. S.; Woodworth, J. C.; DeRouchey, J. M.; Goodband, R. D.; Constance, L. A.; Niederwerder, M.; and Arkfeldt Abstract AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Oceanfeed Swine TM feed additive on sows and their offspring performance. Oceanfeed Swine is a product created by drying and blending a selected mix of brown, red, and green seaweeds (Ocean Harvest Technology, Galway, Ireland). A total of 28 sows (DNA 241, DNA Genetics, Columbus, NE) and litters were used from d 30 of gestation until weaning (d 20 of lactation). Treatments consisted of providing a control diet (n = 14 sows) or the Oceanfeed Swine diet (n = 14 sows) added at 0.5% of complete diet in gestation and 0.66% in lactation diets. Then offspring of these sows were used for the nursery and grow-finish portions of the study. In the nursery, a total of 360 weanling pigs (DNA 241 × 600), were used in a 56-d trial. There were 5 pigs per pen and 18 replications per treatment. Treatments were arranged in a split-plot design with sow treatment (control vs. Oceanfeed Swine diet) as a whole-plot and nursery treatment (control vs. Oceanfeed Swine diet) as the sub-plot. In the nursery phase, the Oceanfeed Swine was added at 0.75% of the diet. During the nursery phase, fecal scoring was used to categorize fecal consistency and fecal samples were collected for microbial analysis. At the end of the nursery portion, pigs from two nursery pens within weight block and treatment were combined and moved to the finishing barn with approximately 10 pigs per pen and 9 replications per treatment. Pigs were weighed weekly (nursery) or every two weeks (finisher) to determine growth performance. At the conclusion of the finishing phase, all pigs were marketed for carcass data collection. G response. Pigs weaned from sows fed control diets and then fed control diets in the nursery/finishing period had greater backfat depth and decreased percentage lean compared with other treatment combinations (sow treatment × × nursery/finishing treatment interaction (P < 0.073)).In summary, the addition of Oceanfeed Swine in gestation, lactation, and the nursery/finishing phases had no consistent effect on sow or litter performance. However, a shift in the microbiota was observed in the pigs from sows fed Oceanfeed Swine diet, then fed Oceanfeed Swine with higher number of species detected within Ruminoccocaceae and Lachnospiraceae families that are generally considered beneficial and lower number of species within the family Fusobacteriaceae that is normally considered pathogenic.

This study evaluated the effect of an algae-clay-complex-based feed additive (ACC, Olmix Group, Brehan, France) and diet formulation regimen on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. A total of 1,188 pigs (PIC 337×1050, initially 49.5 kg) were used in a 90-day study. There were 27 pigs per pen and 11 replications per treatment. Dietary treatments were arranged in a 2×2 factorial with main effects of ACC (none or 0.10% until 100 kg body weight and 0.05% thereafter) and dietary formulation regimen (High vs Low). High diets were formulated to maximize growth with added fat and no dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Low diets were formulated to contain approximately 150 kcal/kg less net energy (NE), 30% DDGS, no added fat, and were formulated 0.10% below the standardized ileal digestible (SID) lys requirement based on the SID Lys:NE ratio as estimated in the High diets. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. There were no ACC × formulation interactions (P &gt;0.220) for growth or carcass characteristics. Overall, ADG was greater (P=0.027) for pigs fed diets with ACC compared with those fed diets without ACC with no change in ADFI or G:F (P &gt;0.180). This was a result of late finishing (d 56 to 90) ADG and G:F increase (P&lt; 0.019) for pigs fed diets with ACC compared with those fed no ACC. Also, pigs fed High diets had improved (P&lt; 0.047) ADG, ADFI, G:F and final body weight compared to pigs fed Low diets. For carcass characteristics, pigs fed High diets tended to have greater (P=0.067) loin depth and had greater (P&lt; 0.001) carcass weight than pigs fed low diets with no evidence for differences between the control and pigs fed ACC (P &gt;0.05). The addition of ACC resulted in improved ADG and G:F in late finishing, but did not affect carcass characteristics.

Vitamins are generally added to swine diets in concentrations well above their requirement estimates to provide a generous margin of safety. However, with the increase in vitamin prices in 2017, there was a need to re-evaluate suggested vitamin additions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare two premixes with different vitamin concentrations on growth performance and carcass characteristics of grow-finish pigs reared in a commercial environment. A total of 1,188 pigs (PIC 359 × 1050; initially 35.5 lb) were used in a randomized complete block design with 27 pigs per pen and 22 pens per treatment. The experimental diets were corn-soybean meal-DDGS-based and were fed in 5 phases from approximately 35 to 60, 60 to 110, 110 to 165, 165 to 220, and 220 to 280 lb. There were two dietary treatments based on different vitamin concentrations. The first was the Kansas State University recommended vitamin premix up to

This study evaluated the effects of providing a selected mix of brown, red and green seaweeds (OceanFeed® Swine; Ocean Harvest Technology, Galway, Ireland) to sows during gestation and lactation and progeny during nursery and grow-finish periods on growth performance, fecal consistency, and microbiota composition. Twenty-eight sows and litters were used from d 30 of gestation until weaning. Sow treatments consisted of a control diet or diet supplemented with OceanFeed Swine (OFS) at 0.50% in gestation and 0.66% in lactation. At weaning, 360 pigs from these sows were used from d 0 to 56 and 57 to 156 in nursery and grow-finish periods, respectively, in a split-plot design. Treatments were a control diet or a diet supplemented with OFS at 0.75% in the nursery and grower phase (5.5 to 34 kg and 34 to 59 kg respectively) and 0.5% in the finisher phase (59 to 127 kg). Maternal OFS supplementation did not improve (P &gt;0.10) sow or litter performance. There was no evidence (P &gt;0.10) for main effects or interactions for nursery and finishing performance. On day 56 after weaning, there was an increased proportion of pigs exhibiting the families Peptostreptococcaceae and Veillonellaceae in fecal samples when fed OFS in the nursery and originating from OceanFeed OFS-fed sows. Pigs from this treatment combination also had increased mean number of species detected within the families Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae and had lower mean number of species detected within the family Fusobacteriacea. In the finishing period, no evidence for main effects or interactions (P &gt;0.10) were observed on overall growth performance. In summary, addition of OFS in gestation, lactation, and nursery-finishing phases had no consistent effect on sow or litter performance; however, there were relative increases in beneficial bacteriain fecal microbiota, including the butyrate-producing families Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae that warrant further investigation.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding an algoclay complex-based feed additive (ACC, Olmix Group, Brehan, France) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs fed two different diet formulation regimens. A total of 1,188 pigs (PIC; 337 × 1050; initially 111.6 lb) were used in a 90-d study. Pens were blocked by initial weight and randomly assigned to diets with 11 pens per treatment and 27 pigs per pen. Dietary treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of ACC addition (none or 0.1% until 220 lb and 0.05% thereafter) and diet formulation regimen (High vs. Low). The High diets were formulated to maximize growth performance and contained 3% added fat with no dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). The second feeding regimen (Low) included diets formulated with 70 kcal per lb less net energy, contained 30% DDGS, no added fat, and were formulated 0.10% below the standardized ileal digestible lysine requirement based on the same SID Lys:NE ratio used in the High diets. For overall performance, there were no interactions observed between diet formulation and added ACC for growth performance criteria, carcass data, or economics. From d 56 to 90, pigs fed the ACC diets had increased (P < 0.001) average daily gain (ADG) and improved (P = 0.016) feed efficiency (F/G) compared with the control fed pigs. Overall, ADG was greater (P = 0.027) for pigs fed ACC diets compared with those fed diets without ACC. Overall, pigs fed High diets had improved growth performance and heavier weights than pigs fed Low diets. For carcass characteristics, pigs fed High diets tended to have greater (P = 0.062) loin depth and greater (P < 0.001) carcass weight than pigs fed Low diets. No evidence for differences was observed for carcass characteristics between the control and the ACC fed pigs. For economic analysis, pigs fed High diets had increased feed cost and feed cost per lb gain, but also had greater revenue and income over feed cost (IOFC). No evidence for differences (P > 0.05) were observed for feed cost, feed cost per lb of gain, revenue, or IOFC between pigs fed diets with or without ACC. In conclusion, the addition of ACC to finishing diets showed an improvement in growth performance but no differences were observed in the economic analysis. Feeding the High dietary regimen increased feed costs per pig, but the improvements in growth performance offset the added cost and improved IOFC compared with those pigs fed the Low diets.