Effect of dietary trace mineral concentration and source (inorganic vs. chelated) on performance, mineral status, and fecal mineral excretion in pigs from weaning through finishing12

Abstract

Two hundred and sixteen weanling gilts (6.65+/-0.08 kg) were used to determine the effects of decreasing supplemental concentrations of Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn, and trace mineral source (inorganic vs. chelated) on growth performance, mineral status, and fecal mineral concentrations from weaning through development. The study was conducted over three trials with 72 pigs in each trial. Gilts were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to either 1) control, 2) reduced inorganic, or 3) reduced chelated trace minerals. The control diet was supplemented with 25, 150, 180, and 60 mg/kg of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn (in sulfate forms), respectively, during the nursery phase and 15, 100, 100, and 40 mg/kg of supplemental Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn, respectively, during the growing and gilt-developer phases. Reduced inorganic and reduced chelated treatments were supplemented during all phases with 5, 25, 25, and 10 mg/kg of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn, respectively. The reduced chelated treatment supplied 50% of the supplemental Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn in the form of metal proteinates, with the remainder from sulfate forms. Performance by control pigs did not differ from pigs fed the reduced trace mineral treatments during the nursery and grower-development periods. Gain:feed was lower (P < 0.05) for pigs fed the reduced inorganic compared with those fed the reduced chelated treatment during the nursery period. Trace mineral source did not affect performance during the growing or gilt-developer phase. Plasma Zn concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity were higher (P < 0.01) in control pigs than in those receiving reduced trace minerals during the nursery and growing phases. Plasma Cu concentration and ceruloplasmin activity were generally not affected by treatment. Hemoglobin concentrations were lower (P < 0.05) for the reduced inorganic compared with the reduced chelated treatment in the nursery phase. Fecal concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Mn were lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed reduced trace minerals than in controls during all production phases. Fecal Zn concentration during the nursery and fecal Cu concentrations during the growing and gilt-developer phases were lower (P < 0.05) in pigs fed the reduced chelated compared with the reduced inorganic treatment. Results indicate that reducing the concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe typically supplemented to pig diets will greatly decrease fecal mineral excretion without negatively affecting pig performance from weaning through development.

Sources of organic trace minerals in diets for weaned piglets

“…The results obtained are in accordance with those described by Creech et al (2004) with pigs in all the production stages, who also verified that animals fed diets with lower levels of inclusion of trace minerals inclusion presented lower excretion in feces.…”

“…Similar results were verified by Creech et al (2004), in an experiment with pigs in the weaning and growth phases, fed controlled diets containing normal levels of inorganic minerals (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) or fed diets containing minerals from organic sources in reduced quantities, and no significant difference in the performance of the animals was verified. The possibility of reducing the level of inclusion of trace minerals in diets was also verified by Veum et al (1995), Fremaut (2003) and Burkett et al (2005), once better performance results of pigs were observed when the levels of addition of trace minerals was reduced in 50%, 30% and 50% in relation to the normal levels, respectively, considering an addition in the organic form, corroborating the results of the present investigation.…”

“…Moreover, Creech et al (2004) verified higher hemoglobin concentrations in piglets in the weaning phase, which received a reduced supplementation of chelated trace minerals when compared with animals fed diets supplemented with trace minerals in the inorganic form.…”

Effect of Sodium Humate on the Content of Trace Elements in Organs of Weaned Piglets

“…The presented results showed that the effect of humic substances from a diet on different trace elements was unequal. Potential antagonistic interactions, such as between iron and manganese or iron, copper and zinc etc should also be taken into consideration (Creech et al 2004). A high proportion of humic acids in water was associated with increased prevalence of thyroid dysfunctions in human population (Huang et al 1994).…”

Effect of dietary soyabean hulls and metal-amino acid chelated mineral supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and noxious gas emission in growing pigs

“…The effects of MAC on growth performance were assessed by a host of researchers. Creech et al (2004) previously reported that trace mineral sources exerted no effects on performance during the growing or gilt development phase. Coffey et al (1994) and Zhou et al (1994) previously reported that additions of Cu from copper-lysine complexes resulted in improved pig performance as compared with copper sulphate.…”