Modelling the feed intake response of growing pigs to diets contaminated with mycotoxins

Abstract

Quantifying robustness of farm animals is essential before it can be implemented in breeding and management strategies. A generic modelling and data analysis procedure was developed to quantify the feed intake response of growing pigs to perturbations in terms of resistance and resilience. The objective of this study was to apply this procedure to quantify these traits in 155 pigs from an experiment where they received diets with or without cereals contaminated with the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). The experimental pigs were divided equally in a control group and three DON-challenged groups. Pigs in each of the challenged groups received a diet contaminated with DON for 7 days early on (from 113 to 119 days of age), later on (from 134 to 140 days of age) or in both periods of the experiment. Results showed that the target feed intake trajectory of each pig could be estimated independently of the challenge. The procedure also estimated relatively accurately the times when DON was given to each challenged group. Results of the quantification of the feed intake response indicated that age and previous exposure to DON have an effect on the resilience capacity of the animals. The correlation between resistance and resilience traits was modest, indicating that these are different elements of robustness. The feed intake analysis procedure proved its capacity to detect and quantify the response of animals to perturbations, and the resulting response traits can potentially be used in breeding strategies.

Effects of Three-Layer Encapsulated Tea Tree Oil on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, and Intestinal Microbiota of Weaned Pigs

“…Meanwhile, we found three mycotoxins (DON, ZEA, and AFB1) present in the experimental diets of this study. Animals that ingest mycotoxincontaminated diets exhibit reduced feed intake and growth rate (53,54). Mycotoxins also promoted inflammatory injury of livers in piglets (55)(56)(57).…”

Protective effect of a new generation of activated and purified bentonite in combination with yeast and phytogenic substances on mycotoxin challenge in pigs

“…It has been described that this concentration causes a decrease in growth and performance, especially in young pigs, which was not significantly reflected in our experiment. In this context, Nguyen-Ba noted that the age and weight of pigs could affect perturbation and resilience on DON in feed mixture [ 53 ]. Our results are consistent with the study published by Liao et al They did not observe significant differences of ADG and ADFI of pigs (initial body weight = 16.3 ± 1.5 kg) between control group and treated group by DON at the doses 3 and 6 mg/kg [ 54 ].…”

Quantifying growth perturbations over the fattening period in swine via mathematical modelling

“…In the context of our study, pigs can be subjected to different perturbations at different scales depending on the groups: temperature, social hierarchy, health situation. Our model approach does not include an explicit representation of the perturbations and thus differ from other approaches in which the number of perturbations and its duration are either fixed and know (11, 24) or are to be estimated (9, 10). In this study, we described a combined model approach to extract, in a two-step mathematical model approach, perturbed and unperturbed individual growth curves over the pig-fattening period.…”