Growth performance of nursery pigs fed BIOSAF yeast, alone or in combination with an in-feed antimicrobial

Swine research, 2005 is known as Swine day, 2005A total of 280 pigs were used in a 28-d growth study to evaluate the effects of feeding the antimicrobial carbadox, BIOSAF (0.4%), and the combination of carbadox and BIOSAF yeast (0.15%) in nursery pig diets. Over the length of the entire trial, pigs fed the diet containing carbadox alone had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF. Overall, pigs fed the diet containing both carbadox and 0.15% BIOSAF had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF (P<0.04), although their growth performance did not differ from that of pigs fed carbadox alone. Antibody titers in response to routine vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were not affected by dietary treatment. There was no evidence that BIOSAF improved growth performance of nursery pigs, either alone or in combination with the carbadox. It is possible that the interactive effects of BIOSAF that have been reported for other in-feed antibiotics are not present when BIOSAF is combined with carbadox, or perhaps interactive effects are only observed when carbadox itself exerts a more potent stimulation of ADG in nursery pigs

Corn particle size and pelleting influence on growth performance, fecal shedding, and lymph node infection rates of salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium

Ninety-six pigs (initially 13.8 lb.) were used in a 28-d trial to determine the interactive effects between pelleting and particle size on Salmonella serovar Typhimurium shedding and colonization in a young growing pig model. The experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement consisting of meal or pelleted diets with fine or coarse ground corn. Pigs were fed the diets 1 wk pre-salmonella inoculation and allotted based on weight to one of four dietary treatments. For the main effect of particle size, pigs fed finer ground corn had significantly improved feed efficiency (P0.82). There was no difference in salmonella infection rates of mesenteric lymph nodes obtained on d 28 between treatments or main effects. Finer grinding and meal diets generally improved growth, feed intake, and feed efficiency compared to pigs fed coarser ground or pelleted feeds. However, particle size or diet form did not alter fecal shedding or mesenteric lymph node infection rates of salmonella organisms in our study

Influence of L-carnitine on litter characteristics from gilts harvested at day 40, 55, and 70 of gestation

Swine research, 2005 is known as Swine day, 2005A total of 59 gilts were used to determine the effects of supplemental L-carnitine on reproductive performance. Experimental treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with main effects of L-carnitine (0 or 50 ppm) and day of gestation (40, 55, or 70). All gilts received a constant feed allowance of 3.86 lb/day and a top-dress containing either 0 or 88 mg of L-carnitine, starting on the first day of breeding and continuing until the day of harvest. Total litter size, total litter weight, and crown-to-rump length of fetuses were not different (P>0.10) between treatments at any gestation length. By d 70 of gestation, average fetus weight was heavier (P = 0.06) for fetuses from gilts fed L-carnitine, compared with fetuses from gilts fed the control diet. In addition, at d 70, fetal insulin-like growth factor- II (IGF-II) concentrations were lower (P = 0.09) for fetuses from gilts fed L-carnitine than for fetuses from gilts fed the control diet. Feeding L-carnitine may have decreased fetal IGF-II, therefore increasing cell proliferation and delaying cell differentiation. These results show that providing supplemental Lcarnitine to gestating gilts has beneficial effects on average fetal weight, possibly observed because of its ability to reduce fetal IGF-II concentrations

Effects of mannanoligosaccharide and sodium chlorate on growth performance of nursery pigs during an acute enteric disease challenge with salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium

A 28-day experiment was conducted to compare the effects of feeding mannanoligosaccharides (mannan) and sodium chlorate (chlorate) to weanling pigs as a possible substitute for the commonly used antimicrobialcarbadox. Pigs were fed experimental diets for 2 wk, then challenged orally with Salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium to establish enteric disease. Average daily gain and ADFI were greater for pigs fed carbadox than all other treatments in the 2 wk following infection. During the first week after infection, pigs fed chlorate had greater G/F than control pigs, and pigs fed mannan tended to have greater G/F than control pigs. There were no differences in feed efficiency among treatments during the second week following infection

Growth performance of nursery pigs fed BIOSAF yeast alone or in combination with in-feed antimicrobial

A total of 210 pigs were used in a 28-d growth study to evaluate the effects of feeding the combination antibiotic neomycin and oxytetracycline (Neo-Terra), different rates of BIOSAF yeast (0.15% or 0.3%), and the combination of Neo-Terra and BIOSAF in nursery diets. Overall, pigs fed the diet containing both Neo-Terra and 0.15% BIOSAF had greater ADG and ADFI than did pigs fed the control diet and pigs fed either concentration of BIOSAF alone (P<0.05). Furthermore, over the entire trial, pigs fed the diet containing both Neo-Terra and BIOSAF also tended to have greater ADG and ADFI than did pigs fed only Neo-Terra (P = 0.15). Pigs fed Neo-Terra had greater ADG and ADFI than did pigs fed the control diet and the diet containing 0.15% BIOSAF, but both ADG and ADFI were similar between pigs fed Neo-Terra and pigs fed 0.3% BIOSAF. Whereas BIOSAF fed alone did not significantly improve growth performance over that of control pigs, pigs fed the diet combining both Neo-Terra and 0.15% BIOSAF had a 16% improvement in ADG, compared with that of pigs fed the control diet, and had a trend for an improvement in ADG, compared with that of pigs fed the diet containing Neo-Terra without added yeast. Thus, in nursery settings where Neo-Terra will be added, addition of 0.15% BIOSAF to diets could enhance growth performance. The overall growth performance of pigs fed 0.3% BIOSAF yeast was intermediate to that of pigs fed the control diet and pigs fed the diet containing Neo-Terra. Additional research will be required to determine definitively if a rate at, or close to, 0.3% BIOSAF can be added to nursery diets to approach growth performance observed with Neo-Terra

Growth performance of nursery pigs fed BIOSAF yeast, alone or in combination with an in-feed antimicrobial

Swine research, 2005 is known as Swine day, 2005A total of 280 pigs were used in a 28-d growth study to evaluate the effects of feeding the antimicrobial carbadox, BIOSAF (0.4%), and the combination of carbadox and BIOSAF yeast (0.15%) in nursery pig diets. Over the length of the entire trial, pigs fed the diet containing carbadox alone had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF. Overall, pigs fed the diet containing both carbadox and 0.15% BIOSAF had greater ADG than did pigs fed the control diet or the diet containing 0.4% BIOSAF (P<0.04), although their growth performance did not differ from that of pigs fed carbadox alone. Antibody titers in response to routine vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were not affected by dietary treatment. There was no evidence that BIOSAF improved growth performance of nursery pigs, either alone or in combination with the carbadox. It is possible that the interactive effects of BIOSAF that have been reported for other in-feed antibiotics are not present when BIOSAF is combined with carbadox, or perhaps interactive effects are only observed when carbadox itself exerts a more potent stimulation of ADG in nursery pigs

Neonatal fc receptor mRNA expression in gastrointestinal tissues from pigs fed meal or pelleted diets with or without irradiated and non-irradiated spray-dried animal plasma

The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) participates in intracellular trafficking of IgG and the maintenance of circulating IgG. The relationship between the FcRn and IgG may also augment host defense immunosurveillance. The current studies evaluated FcRn mRNA from intestinal tissues in fetal pigs and FcRn mRNA in weaned pigs fed meal or pelleted diets with or without irradiated or non-irradiated spray-dried animal plasma. In Exp. 1, fetal pigs were obtained at d 55 and 70 of gestation (n = 5 fetuses/gestational age) and total RNA was isolated from intestinal tissues for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to determine mRNA for FcRn. The FcRn transcripts were observed in all samples, and greater levels of FcRn mRNA were observed in d 55 fetuses compared to d 70 fetuses. In Exp. 2, weaned pigs were used in an 11-d growth assay to determine the effects of feeding meal and pelleted diets with irradiated or non-irradiated spray-dried animal plasma (AP 920) on FcRn expression in intestinal tissues. Pigs were blocked by weight and randomly allotted in a 2 × 2 factorial to one of four dietary treatments. Main effects were diet form (meal or pellet) and either irradiated or non-irradiated spray-dried animal plasma. Jejunal, ileal, and cecal tissues were collected from 24 pigs at the conclusion of the growth assay. Total RNA was isolated to quantify relative mRNA expression of FcRn. The FcRn mRNA transcripts were observed in all tissues. The FcRn mRNA was more abundant (P<0.02) in pigs fed the non-irradiated plasma compared with the pigs fed irradiated plasma. The FcRn mRNA was more abundant (P<0.05) in pigs fed the meal diets compared with the pigs fed pelleted diets. In conclusion, these data suggest that fetal and weanling pig tissues have FcRn mRNA present in the jejunal, ileal, and cecal sections of the small intestine. These data also indicate that FcRn varies with age in pigs. Diet form (meal or pellet) and irradiation of spray-dried animal plasma affects the expression of FcRn in weanling pigs

Effects of weaning time (pm or am) on nursery-pig growth performance

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of weaning time (PM or AM) on nursery-pig growth performance. The objective was to see how weanling pigs would adjust to the nursery environment if sows were removed from the farrowing crates 12 h before moving pigs into the nursery. Each sow and litter was randomly allotted to a wean time (PM or AM). Half of the litters had their sow removed on Thursday afternoon (PM), leaving the pigs in the farrowing crate. The other litters remained on the sow until weaning on Friday morning (AM). All pigs, both PM and AM treatments, were moved from the farrowing house to the nursery on Friday morning. A total of 542 weanling pigs (PIC 327L × C22) from 50 litters were used in the experiment. Pigs were approximately 21 d of age with an average initial body weight of 13.4 lb. All pigs were weighed in the farrowing house in the morning of the day that half of the sows were removed from the farrowing house that afternoon. Pigs were again weighed on d 7, 14, 21, and 28 after weaning to determine ADG, ADFI, and F/G. There was an improvement in F/G (P<0.002) from d 0 to 7 for pigs that were left on the sow until actual weaning in the AM, but this was because litters were weighed on Thursday morning and their pigs were allowed to nurse for 2 h longer than pigs in those litters whose sows were removed Thursday afternoon (PM), which caused gut loss in the pigs. Removing sows from the farrowing house early (PM) had no benefit or detrimental effect on ADG, ADFI, or F/G for the overall 28-d study

Predação de ninhos artificiais em uma ilha na Mata Atlântica: testando o local e o tipo de ovo Artificial nest predation in Atlantic Forest Island: testing the place and the different types of egg

Experimentos com ninhos artificiais são utilizados para testar hipóteses ecológicas e comportamentais que influenciam na predação de ninhos naturais. O tamanho do ovo, a textura da casca e a cor podem influenciar na taxa de predação, porém poucos estudos avaliam qual modelo de ovo é o mais adequado para simular a predação de ninhos em áreas tropicais. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar a predação de diferentes modelos de ovos (ovos de codorna, massa de modelar e canários) no solo e a 1,30 m de altura no sub-bosque. O experimento foi realizado Ilha Anchieta, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brasil. Foi encontrada uma diferença significativa na taxa de predação entre os ovos de codorna (71,87%) e sintéticos (93,75%) e entre os ovos de codorna e de canário (100%) no solo. Entretanto, não houve diferença significativa entre os ovos sintéticos e de canário. Os ninhos no sub-bosque apresentaram um padrão diferenciado do solo quando se refere aos ovos de codorna (25%) e sintéticos (28,1%), mas houve diferenças significativas quando os ovos de canário foram comparados com os ovos sintéticos e de codorna. Nosso trabalho demonstrou que diferentes tipos de ovos sobre uma mesma pressão de mesopredadores apresentaram taxas de predação diferentes. Portanto, estudos que avaliam o sucesso reprodutivo da avifauna baseado na predação de ninhos artificiais devem considerar a utilização de diferentes tipos de ovos e estratos na vegetação.<br>Experiments on artificial nests are usually used to test ecological hypothesis and behavioural that affects the predation of natural bird nests. It is has been discussed about the size of the egg, texture and color affecting predation rate, but a few studies evaluate which egg type is more appropriate to simulate nest predation in tropical areas. The objective of this work was to compare the predation of different models of eggs (Coturnix coturnix, plasticine and Serinus canarius) on the ground and understory in a island with high abundance of nest predators. The study was carry out in October 2004 at Anchieta Island, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. The nests on the ground showed a statistical significance difference in the predation of quail eggs, plasticine and canary eggs. However, we did not find differences between plasticine and canaries eggs. The nests in the understory had a different pattern on the ground of quail eggs (25%) and plasticine (28%) and there was a difference when we compare canary eggs with plasticine and quail eggs. Our work pointed out that different eggs may have different predation rates. Therefore, studies that evaluate reproductive fitness of the bird community based on artificial nests must considered different egg types and strata