Use of clinoptilolite in piglet diets as a substitute for Colistine

The effects of adding 2% of natural zeolite, containing a high percentage of clinoptilolite, to the diet of piglets was eval- uated by monitoring growing performance and plasma parameters. The diet was also deprived of Colistine, an antibiotic usually added to piglet diets at subtherapeutic levels to prevent gastrointestinal pathology. Sixty-four piglets, weaned at 7.9 kg live weight, were divided in 2 groups of 32 each. The control group was given commercial piglet feedstuffs; for the treated group, 98% of the same feed, deprived of Colistine, was used, with the addition of 2% of a natural zeolite. The trial lasted 36 days. The piglets fed the control diet exhibited greater weight in the first three weeks, after which the differences were not significant. The average daily weight gain in the first week was higher in the control group (+37%; P<0.01) whereas at the end of the trial no differences were found. The feed intake did not show significant differences between groups and, as a result, the Feed Efficiency at the end of the trial was higher in the control group (532 vs. 491, P< 0.05). The plasmatic nitrogen parameters did not show significant differences between groups. Only in the first three weeks post-weaning the group fed the diet containing Colistine showed better ADG, subsequently it can be eliminated and clinoptilolite could favour growth

Nitrogen and energy partitioning in two genetic groups of pigs fed low-protein diets at 130 kg body weight

The aim was to evaluate the effect of low-protein (LP) or low-amino acid diets on digestibility, energy and nitrogen (N) utilisation in 2 genetic groups (GG) of pigs (129±11 kg BW). Duroc×Large White (A) pigs were chosen to represent a traditional GG for ham production, and Danbred Duroc (D) pigs to represent a GG with fast growing rate and high carcass lean yield. Dietary treatments: a conventional diet (CONV) containing 13.2% CP, and two LP diets, one with LP (10.4%) and low essential AA (LP1), the second with LP (9.7%) and high essential AA (LP2). Compared to CONV, LP2 had the same essential AA content per unit feed, while LP1 the same essential AA content per unit CP. Feed was restricted (DMI=6.8% BW0.75). Four consecutive digestibility/balances periods were conducted with 24 barrows, 12 A and 12 D. Metabolic cages and respiration chambers were used. No significant difference between diets was registered for digestibility. Nitrogen excreted: 41.3, 33.4 and 29.0 g/d (P=0.009), for CONV, LP1 and LP2 diets, respectively. Nitrogen retention was similar between the diets. Heat production (HP) was the lowest for LP diets. There was a tendency (P=0.079) for a lower energy digestibility in D group. The D pigs also had a higher HP and hence a lower retained energy in comparison with the A pigs. In conclusion: it is possible to reduce N excretion using very LP diets and LP-low AA diets; Danbred GG have a higher heat production and a lower energy retention than A pigs

Effects of benzoic acid on nitrogen, phosphorus and energy balance and on ammonia emission from slurries in the heavy pig

The effects of two dietary levels of benzoic acid on nitrogen, phosphorus and energy balance were evaluated in the typical Italian heavy pig during the last phase of growth. Six Landrace x Large White barrows of 125 kg body weight (BW) on average were used in a repeated 3x3 Latin Square design and housed in metabolic cages to collect faeces and urine separately, in 3 collection periods of 7 days, after 14 days of adaptation. The animals were individually housed in open circuit respiration chambers to determine the energy metabolism. The dietary treatments were as follows [% on dry matter (DM)]: i) diet C (control): 14.2 crude protein (CP), 3.7 EE, 13.8 NDF; ii) diet B05: diet C plus 0.5% benzoic acid; iii) diet B10: diet C plus 1.0% benzoic acid. DM fed was fixed at 6.8% BW0.75. Apparent digestibility was similar among treatments for all the parameters studied. Nitrogen (N) retention was 35.8, 37.4, 41.6% of intake N for C, B05 and B10, respectively, with no significant difference. Energy and phosphorus balances were not influenced by dietary treatments. Ammonia nitrogen emission from the slurry, expressed as a proportion of the initial slurry nitrogen, was decreased (P=0.049) by the inclusion of benzoic acid in the diet: 35.2, 28.1, 26.2% for C, B05, B10, respectively. The addition of benzoic acid to the diet determined a numerically decrease of the urinary pH. In conclusion, the inclusion of benzoic acid in the diet of the heavy pig is beneficial to the environment without effects on N, phosphorus (P) and energy balances

Methane yield from dry and lactating cows diets in the Po Plain (Italy) using an in vitro gas production technique

The aim of the study was to measure total gas and methane (CH4) production from 30 total mixed rations (TMRs) fed to dry and lactating cows in 20 commercial dairies in the Po Plain (Italy). Samples were analysed for chemical composition, in situ 48 h fibre digestibility (NDFD) and in vitro gas production (GP) and CH4 concentration at 24 h of incubation. NDFD of TMRs from dry and lactating cows was identical (52.1%; P=0.995). The TMRs fed to dry and lactating cows differed for GP (43.0 and 54.4 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P<0.001) and CH4 (7.24 and 8.85 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P=0.001), but not for CH4 as percentage of GP (24.3 and 23.7%, respectively; P=0.286). The data were analysed dividing the TMRs into quartiles depending on starch:ADF ratio; the average ratios of the groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 37, 77, 116 and 138, respectively. Increasing starch:ADF ratio determined a higher GP: 42.2, 51.4, 55.1 and 56.2 mL/200 mg DM for groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively (P<0.001), whilst CH4 (mL/200 mg DM) was lower (P<0.001) for group 1 (7.12) in comparison with the others (8.82 on average). Acetate (% on total VFA) decreased for increasing starch:ADF ratio (P=0.009), whereas butyrate tended to increase (from 8.11 to 9.23% on total VFA; P=0.069) and the acetate:propionate ratio to decrease (from 3.35 to 3.09; P=0.082). The lack of a higher CH4 concentration in GP from diets richer in fibre might be attributed mainly to the relatively short time of incubation

High Human Papillomavirus DNA loads in Inflammatory Middle Ear Diseases

Background. Previous studies reported human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in middle ear tumors, whereas these viruses have been poorly investigated in chronic inflammatory middle ear diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate HPVs in non-tumor middle ear diseases, including chronic otitis media (COM). Methods. COM specimens (n=52), including chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) (n=38) and cholesteatoma (COMC) (n=14), as well as normal middle ear specimens (NME) (n=56) were analyzed. HPV DNA sequences and DNA loads were analyzed by quantitative PCR. HPV genotyping was performed by direct sequencing of the amplimers. Results. HPV DNA was detected in 23% (12/52) of COM and in 30.4% (17/56) NME (p&gt;0.05). Specifically, HPV DNA sequences were revealed in 26.3% (10/38) of CSOM and in 14.3% (2/14) COMC (p&gt;.05). Interestingly, the HPV DNA load was higher in COMC (mean 7.47 copy/cell) than in CSOM (mean 1.02 copy/cell), and NME (mean 1.18 copy/cell) (P=.03 and P=.017 versus CSOM and NME, respectively). HPV16 and HPV18 were the main genotypes detected in COMC, CSOM and NME. Conclusions. This data indicates that HPV-positive CSOM and COMC are generally associated with higher viral DNA loads as compared to NME. In addition, for the first time, HPVs were detected in normal middle ear mucosa specimens. This result suggests that NME is an additional epithelial tissue that can be HPV infected

Growth and slaughter performance, nitrogen balance and ammonia emission from slurry in pigs fed high fibre diets

The aim of the work was to determine digestibility, nitrogen balance and ammonia emission from excreta, in the typical Italian heavy pig during the last phase of growth, when fed diets with a high fibre content. In comparison with a traditional control diet (C), two diets with 12 and 24% wheat bran (WB12 and WB24) and two other diets with 12 and 24% dried beet pulp (BP12 and BP24) were tested. Totally 76 Landrace x Large White fattening barrows, from 45 to 170 kg live weight distributed in 16 pens, were utilized in the trial. Thirty pigs were allocated to 6 metabolic cages in 5 consecutive periods in order to have 6 observations per treatment. For diets C, WB12 and WB24 daily weight gain (DWG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and slaughtering performances were also registered, on 20 pigs per dietary treatment. Growing and slaughter performances were similar for pigs fed C and WB12 diets, whilst diet WB24 determined a significant (P<0.05) decrease in performances (growth and feed conversion) in the first period of fattening and a lower dressing percentage at slaughter (85.5, 84.4 and 82.5% for C, WB12 and WB24, respectively). Comparing the diets with the same level of inclusion of the fibrous feeds, WB diets had a lower OM and energy digestibility, while BP diets registered a lower protein but a higher fibre digestibility. Consistently with other experiments, BP diets determined an increase of faecal and a reduction of urinary N, as a percentage of the intake N, as well as a decrease of ammonia emission from the slurries (- 16.6 and -25.3% for BP12 and BP24, in comparison with C diet). For the WB diets the reduction of urinary N and the increase in faecal N were less marked and a reduction of ammonia emissions was not registered

Hypercritical Separation Technology (HYST): an innovative technology for resource use in sustainable animal feeding

The Hypercritical Separation Technology (HYST) is an innovative biomass processing technology having tremendous potential in the field of nutrition (both animal and human) and renewable energy. The HYST technology is based on plants which carry out a physical disaggragation of the plant tissues, and suitable for integration into several industrial processes. When applied to the animal production sector, the HYST processing of corn straw and cereal bran results in a significant increase in the nutritional value and digestibility of the processed raw material, as revealed by the analytical evaluation (composition and nutritional value). To evaluate the nutritional quality of the HYST products, the in-vitro dry matter digestibility and the neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility (NRC, 2001) have been determined and used for the calculation of Unité Fourragère Lait (UFL)/kg dry matter by using the in-vitro gas metho

Digestibility, metabolic utilisation and effects on growth and slaughter traits of diets containing whole plant maize silage in heavy pigs

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the inclusion of high cut whole plant corn silage (HCCS) in diets for finishing heavy pigs on digestibility, metabolic utilisation, growth performance and slaughter traits. A control diet (CTR, containing maize meal, barley meal, extracted soybean meal and wheat bran, 550, 250, 90 and 80 g/kg DM, respectively) was compared with diet (CS) containing 200 g/kg DM of HCCS. The HCCS replaced wheat bran and part of maize meal in the CTR diet. In the first experiment, eight barrows were used in a two periods cross over design with periods of 21 d, included 7 d of total collection and three cycles of 24 h each in a respiratory chamber. In the second experiment, 28 barrows were divided into pairs on the basis of BW, kept in 14 pens and fed with the experimental diets until slaughter. Lower DM, OM, CP and energy total tract apparent digestibility was measured for the CS diet. Overall P retention as percentage of P intake was higher for CS diet, while N retention was similar for the two diets. Pigs fed CS tended to have a lower retained energy and the estimated NE of maize silage was 8.47 MJ/kg DM. Pigs fed the CS diets had a lower daily gain, a lower BW at slaughter and a reduction in the weight of back fat. The inclusion of HCCS increased the size of the stomach, the aNDFom concentration of stomach content and reduced the incidence of follicular gastritis