Effects of Dietary Enterococcus faecium SF68 on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Faecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding probiotic (Enterococcus faecium SF68, EF) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and faecal noxious gas content in finishing pigs. A total of eighty [(Landrace×Yorkshire)×Duroc] pigs with an initial BW of 50.47±2.13 kg were used in this 8-week experiment. Pigs were allotted to four treatments (4 replicates per treatment and 5 pigs per pen) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were: 1) CON (control; basal diet), 2) CTC (control diet+0.1% antibiotic, chlortetracycline), 3) EF1 (control diet+0.1% probiotic, EF) and 4) EF2 (control diet+0.2% probiotic, EF). During weeks 0-4, ADG was not affected by the addition of antibiotic or EF (p>0.05). In weeks 4-8, ADG tended to increase in CTC and EF treatments compared to CON treatment (p<0.10). ADFI and gain/feed were not affected in each 4-week period and the entire experimental period (p>0.05). Digestibilities of DM and N were higher in EF supplemented treatments than in CON and CTC treatments (p<0.05). Blood characteristics of WBC, RBC and lymphocyte were not affected in pigs given diets containing EF (p>0.05). Supplementation of EF in the diet decreased faecal ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) concentrations (p<0.05). Faecal acetic acid concentration tended to decrease (p<0.10) while propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations were significantly lower on diets with EF supplementation than on the diet containing antibiotic (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of EF can increase nutrient digestibility and decrease faecal NH 3 -N, H 2 S and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in finishing pigs.

Effect of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) and probiotic (Enterococcus faecium) supplementation on the growth performance, digestibility and blood profiles in weanling pigs

“…Our study is in agreement with the report of Yan and Kim (2013) where no differences were observed in blood characteristics. These results are also consistent with our own earlier study Chen et al (2006), in which no differences were observed after probiotic supplementation in pigs.…”

“…In recent times, the application of probiotics, in particular, has received significant attention in the pig industry (Chen et al 2006;Meng et al 2010;Yan et al 2010;Yan et al 2011). Probiotics are live microbial additives which affect the gut flora in a way that is beneficial to the host animal by improving the intestinal microbial balance (Fuller 1992).…”

“…Cernauskiene et al (2011) reported that E. faecium could produce lactic acid to reduce the pH value of the intestinal content and inhibit the development of invasive pathogens. Yan and Kim (2013) and Chen et al (2006) reported that dietary supplementation of E. faecium DSM 7134 and E. faecium SF68 reduced faecal NH 3 and H 2 S emissions, respectively.…”

Effects of Enterococcus faecium DSM 7134 supplementation in different energy and crude protein density diets on ileal amino acid digestibility and intestinal shedding of lactobacilli and Escherichia coli in finishing pigs

“…Chen et al (2006) also found that dietary E. faecium SF68 (0, 0.175, and 0.350 × 10 9 cfu/kg diet) linearly increased the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen in finishing pigs. In the current study, the CAID of Cys-Gly and most essential AA were increased by 5.2-7.2% in E. faecium groups.…”

Probiótico (Enterococcus faecium) adicionado a dietas estándar y con baja proteína para cerdos

“…Un beneficio adicional de la adición de probióticos a las dietas para cerdos es la disminución del nitrógeno amoniacal en heces (Chen et al, 2006), lo que refuerza el uso de dietas con baja proteína, ya que la combinación de ambas alternativas permite disminuir la excreción de nitrógeno de manera aditiva.…”