Dietary manipulation post weaning to improve piglet performance and gastro-intestinal health

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the use of dietary manipulation as a means of improving piglet postweaning performance and gastro-intestinal health. In experiment 1, 144 piglets (24 days old) in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement were offered diets containing 65, 170 and 280 g lactose per kg with or without lactic acid (16 g/kg) for 28 days. In experiment 2, 20 piglets (24 days old) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement were offered the following diets for 7 days and then sacrificed: T1) basal diet; T2) basal diet + 15 g inulin per kg; T3) basal diet + 16 g lactic acid per kg and T4) basal diet + 15 g inulin per kg + 16 g lactic acid per kg. After slaughtering, tissue samples were taken from the duodenum, jejunum and ileum for morphological measurements. Digesta samples were taken from the ileum, caecum and colon for microbiology and volatile fatty acid analysis. In experiment 1, pigs offered diets containing lactic acid had improved daily gain ( P < 0·01) and food efficiency ( P < 0·05) from days 0 to 7 compared with pigs offered diets containing no lactic acid. There was a linear increase ( P < 0·05) in average daily gain (ADG) from days 0 to 28 and a linear decrease in faecal pH ( P < 0·01) with increasing lactose levels. There was a quadratic effect of lactose on food conversion ratio from days 0 to 28 ( P < 0·05). In experiment 2, there was a significant interaction between inulin and lactic acid in villous height in the jejunum ( P < 0·001) and the concentrations of lactobacilli ( P < 0·1) and E. coli ( P < 0·05) in the colon. The inclusion of inulin and lactic acid resulted in a significant increase in villous height compared with the inulin only diet ( P < 0·001). However, lactic acid had no effect on villous height in pigs offered diets without inulin supplementation. The inclusion of lactic acid and inulin caused a significant increase in both lactobacilli and E. coli concentrations compared with the inulin only diets ( P < 0·05). However, neither inulin nor lactic acid had an effect on lactobacilli and E. coli numbers in isolation of the other. In conclusion, in experiment 1, lactic acid improved performance in the 1st week post weaning. There was a linear increase in ADG with increasing lactose levels. In experiment 2, the combination of lactic acid and inulin increased villous height in the jejunum and concentrations of lactobacilli and E. coli in the colon.

Effects of inulin and lactulose on the intestinal morphology of calves

“…Interestingly a significantly higher daily weight gain or an improved feed conversion ratio as was found in the inulin group is commonly associated with a better intestinal nutrient absorption because of longer villi (Wu et al, 1996;Awad et al, 2008), while in this study small intestinal villi were shortened after inulin feeding. A similar decrease of villus length after addition of inulin to the feed has already been reported in weaning piglets (Pierce et al, 2005). But also increases of villus length in rats after feeding of soluble chicory extract (1% to 5%) or purified inulin (5%) (Kim, 2002) were found.…”

The effect of high and low dietary crude protein and inulin supplementation on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen excretion, intestinal microflora and manure ammonia emissions from finisher pigs

“…However, it is possible that the Bifidobacteria in the caecum could have been washed down from the ileum (Williams et al, 2001). Pierce et al (2005b) concluded that the ileum harbours enough microflora to ferment inulin, which resulted in the absence of an inulin effect on pH and VFA production in the large intestine of piglets. Unfortunately, neither microbial populations nor VFA production were measured from the ileum in the current study.…”

The interaction between dietary crude protein and fermentable carbohydrate source on piglet post weaning performance, diet digestibility and selected faecal microbial populations and volatile fatty acid concentration

“…Inulin supplementation in high crude protein diets has been shown to reduce Enterobacteria spp. in finishing pigs (Lynch et al, 2007a) and in weaned piglets (Pierce et al, 2005a). Therefore, inulin supplementation may regulate metabolic activity as an available fermentable substrate, decreasing the protein to carbohydrate ratio in the hindgut.…”