Addition of fructooligosaccharides and alfalfa hay to the diet of weaned piglets on the microbiota and the small intestine morphology

The goal of this work was to verify the effect of the fructooligossaccharide prebiotic (FOS) addition in the diet containing varying levels of alfalfa hay, on the microbiology and intestinal morphology of weaned piglets. It was used 72 piglets, crossed, both sexes, with initial weight of 5.95 ± 0.73 Kg, with approximate age of 21 days. It was evaluated the treatment: T1 – Basal feed + 0% FOS; T2 – Basal feed + 0.3% FOS; T3 – Feed with 5% of alfalfa + 0% FOS; T4 – Feed with 5% of alfalfa + 0.3% FOS; T5 – Feed with 10% of alfalfa + 0% FOS; Feed with 10% of alfalfa + 0.3% FOS. In the end of the experimental period one piglet of each replication was slaughtered for the collection of sample aiming to analyze Salmonela sp. and coliformes and intestinal morphology (height of villus and depht of crypt). The analysis for coliformes didn’t show statistic difference among the levels of FOS and alfalfa hay. It wasn’t find Salmonella sp. colonies in the samples. No difference was observe in the crypt depht (P&gt;0.05) among the treatments. The height of villus and the relation of height of villus per depht of crypt, the group without the addition of FOS didn’t show difference (P&gt;0.05), however, the group supplemented with 0.3% of FOS showed a significant improvement (P&lt;0.05) related to levels of 5% and 10% of alfalfa. There was no influence of treatment on the presence of Salmonella sp. and E. Coli. Regarding intestinal morphology data for villus height and villus height ratio/crypt depth showed the best results in the presence of FOS.</p

Carcass traits and short-chain fatty acid profile in cecal digesta of piglets fed alfalfa hay and fructooligosaccharides

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of the prebiotic fructooligosaccharide and/or alfalfa hay to piglet diets on carcass traits and short-chain fatty acid profiles in the cecal digesta. Seventy-two commercial crossbred piglets of both sexes, with an average initial weight about 6 kg and age of approximately 21 days, were distributed in a randomized block design, using a factorial scheme, which consisted of three alfalfa hay levels (0, 5, and 10%) and two fructooligosaccharide levels (0 and 0.3%). Fiber addition in the presence of the prebiotic exerted an effect on cecal digesta short-chain fatty acid, increasing the acetic and reducing the butyric acid concentrations. The meat quality was also affected by the treatments, water activity, water-holding capacity of meat, and especially the reduction of fat content and the increase of moisture. The treatments did not affect the pH and the ammonia content in the cecal digesta. Most carcass traits were not affected by the treatments, except for carcass weight and backfat thickness in points 1 and 2, that decreased with the inclusions of fiber and prebiotic. The addition of 5% alfalfa hay improves carcass and meat traits in growing pigs without any change in carcass weight, demonstrating the advantage of using this ingredient to obtain a healthy final product to the customers

Tempo de fornecimento da dieta pré-inicial para frangos de corte com diferentes pesos ao alojamento Period of feeding a pre-starter diet for broiler chickens with different body weights at housing

Avaliaram-se os efeitos do fornecimento da dieta pré-inicial (DPI) e do peso ao alojamento sobre o desempenho e as características de carcaça de frangos de corte. Utilizaram-se 960 frangos machos, linhagem comercial Cobb-500, alojados em 32 boxes, em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 2 x 4, composto de dois pesos ao alojamento (42 e 46 g) e quatro períodos de fornecimento da dieta pré-inicial (0, 1 a 7, 1 a 10 e 1 a 14 dias de idade), durante 49 dias. Os programas alimentares compreenderam três ou quatro fases (pré-inicial e/ou inicial; engorda; final) e as dietas fornecidas eram à base de milho e farelo de soja. De modo geral, aves mais pesadas ao alojamento apresentaram, ao longo de todo o período experimental, maior consumo de ração (CR) e ganho de peso (GP). Não foram observadas diferenças significativas na conversão alimentar (CA) dos animais. Considerando todo o período experimental, as aves alimentadas com a dieta pré-inicial durante sete dias apresentaram maior consumo de ração e ganho de peso, porém, menor rendimento de carcaça. O peso ao alojamento determina o desempenho e o oferecimento da dieta pré-inicial durante sete dias beneficia o desempenho das aves.<br>The effects of feeding a pre-starter diet (PSD) and weight at housing on performance and carcass characteristics broilers were evaluated. A total of 960 day-old male chickens, commercial line Cobb-500, was housed in 32 floor pens as a completely randomized design in a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement &#91;weight at housing (42 and 46 g) and periods of feeding pre- starter diet (0, 1 to 7, 1 to 10 and 1 to 14 days old) for 49 days. The feeding regimes contained three or four phases (pre-starter and/or starter; grower; finisher diets) and diets were based on corn and soybean meal. Overall, birds with heavier weights at housing showed, throughout the trial period, greater feed consumption and weight gain. No differences were observed for feed conversion of the animals. Considering the whole trial period, birds fed PSD during seven days showed higher feed consumption and weight gain, however, lower carcass yield. Weights at housing determine the performance and feeding pre-starter diet during first seven days is beneficial for the performance of birds