Effects of Increasing Salt Concentration for 15 to 22 lb Nursery Pigs

A total of 325 maternal line barrows (Line 200 × 400; DNA, Columbus, NE; initially 14.6 lb BW) were used in a 14-d growth trial to determine the optimal inclusion rate of dietary salt for growth performance of nursery pigs weighing approximately 15 to 22 lb. Upon entry of the nursery, pigs were allotted by BW and fed a common starter diet (6 lb/ton added salt and 25% dried whey) for 7 d after weaning. At d 7 after weaning, considered d 0 in the trial, pigs were allotted by pen weight and assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments. Treatments included a diet containing 10% dried whey with no added salt, or 4, 8, 12, and 16 lb/ton of added salt. A common Phase 3 diet, containing 7 lb/ton added salt, was then fed from d 14 to d 21.From d 0 to 14, increasing salt increased (linear, P \u3c 0.015) ADG and ADFI. Feed efficiency improved (quadratic, P \u3c 0.034) as added salt increased from 0 to 12 lb with no further benefits observed thereafter. From d 14 to 21, when pigs were fed a common Phase 3 diet (7 lb/ton added salt), those previously fed no added salt had 20% greater ADG (linear, P \u3c 0.013) than those previously fed 4 to 16 lb added salt. The compensatory ADG observed from d 14 to 21 resulted in no overall differences in ADG, ADFI, or F/G from d 0 to 21. In conclusion, it appears that 12 lb/ton of added salt in a diet containing 10% dried whey optimizes ADG, ADFI, and F/G in 15 to 22 lb nursery pigs

Evaluation of Added Sodium and Chloride for 15 to 24 lb Nursery Pigs

A total of 360 pigs (Line 241 × 600; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in a 14-d growth trial to determine if the response to added dietary salt in nursery pigs (15 to 24 lb) was due to either the Na or Cl concentration in the diet. Upon entry to the nursery, pigs were allotted by BW and fed a common starter diet (0.33% Na and 0.76% Cl) for 7 d after weaning. On d 7 after weaning, considered d 0 in the trial, pens were assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments that were fed from d 0 to 14. The 4 experimental treatments included a 10% dried whey diet with 12 lb/ton added salt (0.37% Na and 0.75% Cl); or 3 diets with dried whey replaced by 7.2% lactose containing either: 7 lb/ton added salt (0.18% Na and 0.47% Cl); 15.5 lb/ton added salt (0.35% Na and 0.72% Cl); or 23 lb/ ton sodium bicarbonate and 8 lb/ton potassium chloride (0.35% Na and 0.45% Cl), respectively. From d 0 to 14, pigs fed the 10% dried whey diet with 12 lb/ton added salt or the diet with lactose and 15.5 lb/ton added salt had improved (P \u3c 0.05) ADG compared to pigs fed the lactose diet with 7 lb/ton added salt, with pigs fed the lactose diet with 23 lb/ton sodium bicarbonate and 8 lb/ton potassium chloride intermediate. Pigs fed the 10% dried whey diet with 12 lb/ton added salt had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI than those fed the lactose diet with 7 lb/ton added salt, with pigs fed the lactose diet with 15.5 lb/ton added salt and the lactose diet with 23 lb/ton sodium bicarbonate and 8 lb/ton potassium chloride intermediate. However, F/G tended to be poorest for pigs fed 10% dried whey compared with pigs fed 7.2% lactose and 15.5 lb/ton added salt, with others intermediate. In conclusion, diets should be formulated with enough added salt in order to meet NRC (2012) recommendation of dietary Na concentration of 0.35%, which is higher in Na than many nursery diets for 15 to 25 lb pigs

Effects of Increasing Salt Concentrations on Growth Performance of Pigs Weighing 60 to 140 lb

A total of 1,188 pigs (PIC 359 × 1050; initial BW 59.8 lb) were used in a 44-d growth trial to determine the effects of added salt on the growth performance of pigs weighing approximately 60 to 140 lb in a commercial setting. Pens of pigs were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments in a completely randomized block design with 27 pigs per pen and 11 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-based with 20% dried distillers grain with soluble containing either 0.10, 0.33, 0.55, or 0.75% of added salt, which resulted in calculated dietary Na levels of 0.10, 0.19, 0.28, and 0.36%; and calculated Cl levels of 0.23, 0.36, 0.49, and 0.61%. From d 0 to 44, there was no evidence of difference to indicate that increasing salt beyond 0.10% influenced ADG, ADFI, F/G, or BW. This study reported that 0.10% of added salt in a diet containing 20% dried distillers grain with solubles was adequate for maximum growth performance in 60- to 140-lb grower pigs

Effects of Added Defusion or Feed Aid on Finishing Pig Growth Performance from 45 to 243 lb

A total of 1,188 pigs (PIC 359 × 1050; initial BW 45.1 lb) were used in a 112-d growth trial to determine the effects of Defusion (Provimi, Brooksville, OH) or Feed Aid (NutriQuest, Mason City, IA) on finishing pig performance from 45 to 243 lb in a commercial setting. Pens of pigs were blocked by BW and then randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments in a completely randomized block design with 27 pigs per pen and 11 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments were fed in a 4-phase feeding program from approximately 45 to 83, 83 to 136, 136 to 196, and 196 to 243 lb BW. The four treatment diets included a positive control (corn-soybean meal-based diet), a negative control (corn-soybean meal-based diet containing 40% dried distillers grains with solubles), or the negative control diet with either 0.25% Defusion or 0.25% Feed Aid. Mycotoxin analysis indicated the deoxynivalenol (DON) concentrations of the treatment diets varied by treatment and phase, but all concentrations were less than 1 ppm. From d 0 to 28, pigs fed the negative control diet or the diet containing Feed Aid had decreased (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and d 28 BW compared to those fed the positive control, with pigs fed Defusion treatment intermediate. Pigs fed the positive control diet had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI compared to other diets. There was no evidence of difference for F/G. From d 28 to 56, pigs fed the positive control diet had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and d 56 BW compared to the other dietary treatments. Pigs fed diets containing Feed Aid or Defusion had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG compared to the negative control. Average daily feed intake was not influenced by dietary treatments. Pig fed the negative control diet had poorer (P \u3c 0.05) F/G when compared to the other dietary treatments. There were no differences in performance from d 56 to 112. Overall, pigs fed the positive control had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and final BW when compared to the other dietary treatments, with no evidence of differences in ADFI or F/G. In conclusion, the addition of Defusion improved growth rate during the first two phases of the study and Feed Aid improved growth rate during the second phase. However, neither feed additive improved overall growth performance of finishing pigs when the dietary DON concentration was less than 1 ppm

Effects of Sodium Metabisulfite Additives on Nursery Pig Growth

Sodium metabisulfite (SMB)-based feed additive efficacy was evaluated in 3 nursery pig growth experiments where pigs were fed diets containing low deoxynivalenol (\u3c 1.5 ppm; DON) concentrations. Pigs were weaned at approximately 22 d of age and randomly allotted to pens with one pen of 27 gilts and one pen of 27 barrows per fence line feeder, thus feeder was the experimental unit. In experiment 1, 2,268 pigs were used in a 35-d trial with 21 feeders per treatment. Experimental treatments included a control diet or the control with 0.50% SMB-based Product 1 (Defusion; Provimi, Brooksville, OH) fed in phase 1 and 0.25% fed in phases 2 and 3, then all pigs were fed a control diet for the last week of the study. Pigs fed Product 1 had greater (P \u3c 0.05) average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed/gain ratio (F/G) compared to pigs fed the control diet from d 0 to 28. However, from d 28 to 35, the opposite response was observed, with pigs fed the control diet having greater ADG and improved F/G than pigs previously fed Product 1. Despite this response, pigs fed Product 1 were heavier (P \u3c 0.05) on d 35 than control-fed pigs. In experiment 2, 4,320 pigs were used in a 42-d trial with 8 or 16 feeders per treatment. Pigs were fed a control diet or diets with either SMB-based Product 1 or Product 2 (Nutriquest, Mason City, IA) at different concentrations and durations. Among the various treatments, Product 1 or Product 2 concentrations ranged from 0.50% initially to 0.25%, 0.15%, or none the last week of the study. Overall, pigs fed either of the additives at the highest concentrations and for the longest period of time had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and ADFI compared to pigs fed the control diet, with those fed lower concentrations or shorter durations intermediate. In experiment 3, 2,808 pigs were used in a 28-d trial with 13 feeders per treatment. All pigs were fed a common diet for 7 d after weaning. Pigs were then either fed a control diet or diets containing Product 1 (0.50 and 0.25% from d 0 to 21 and 21 to 28 respectively), SMB (0.50 and 0.25% from day 0 to 21 and 21 to 28 respectively) or 0.25% SMB from day 0 to 28. Overall, pigs fed Product 1 or high SMB diets had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG compared to pigs fed low SMB or control diets. Collectively, these studies suggest that in diets with low DON concentrations, these SMB-based products increased ADG compared to pigs fed control diets

Effects of Sodium and Chloride Source and Concentration on 15- to 25-lb Nursery Pig Growth Performance

A total of 360 barrows (initially 15.6 lb; Line 200 × 400; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in a 21-day trial to determine effects of source and concentration of dietary Na and Cl on nursery pig growth performance. Upon entry to the nursery, pigs were randomly allotted by body weight and fed a common starter diet (0.33% Na and 0.76% Cl) for 8 days. On day 8 after weaning, considered day 0 in the trial, pens were blocked by body weight and randomly assigned to 1 of 6 dietary treatments that were fed from day 0 to 14. Experimental treatments included two added salt diets (providing 0.13% Na and 0.35% Cl or 0.35% Na and 0.68% Cl), three diets with Na and Cl provided by NaHCO3 and KCl (0.13, 0.35, or 0.57% Na and 0.50% Cl), or a diet with NaHCO3 and CaCl2 (0.35% Na and 0.50% Cl). From day 0 to 14, average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) improved (quadratic, P \u3c 0.05) as dietary Na concentration increased from 0.13 to 0.35%, with no further benefits observed thereafter. Day 14 body weight tended (P \u3c 0.089) to increase as dietary Na concentration increased from 0.13 to 0.35%, with no further benefits observed thereafter. Feed efficiency (F/G) was not influenced by the dietary Na concentration. There was no evidence to indicate differences in growth performance due to Na or Cl source. From day 14 to 21 when pigs were fed a common diet, compensatory gain was observed with pigs previously fed low Na diets having increased (linear, P \u3c 0.05) ADG and improved F/G compared with pigs previously fed higher Na diets regardless of Na source. Previous source and concentration of Cl did not affect subsequent ADG. In conclusion, growth performance improved up to the Na concentration of 0.35% regardless of the dietary source of the Na and Cl ions

Effects of Increasing Chloride Concentrations on Growth Performance of 15- to 25-lb Nursery Pigs

A total of 300 nursery pigs (initially 15.5 lb; Line 241 × 600; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in a 21-d trial to determine effects of increasing dietary Cl on nursery pig growth performance. Upon entry to the nursery, pigs were allotted by BW and fed a common starter diet (0.33% Na and 0.76% Cl) for 7 d. On d 7 after weaning, considered d 0 in the trial, pens were assigned to 1 of 6 dietary treatments that were fed from d 0 to 14. Experimental treatments included a control diet containing 0.33% Na and 0.55% Cl provided by 0.78% added salt, or 5 diets with 0.33% Na and added potassium chloride to provide 0.09, 0.21, 0.32, 0.45, or 0.55% Cl. A common diet (0.18% Na and 0.49% Cl) was then fed from d 14 to 21. From d 0 to 14, ADG, ADFI, and F/G improved (quadratic, P \u3c 0.05) as dietary Cl increased from 0.09 to 0.32% with no further benefits observed thereafter. Pigs fed the 0.55% Cl diet had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI, but tended (P = 0.053) to have poorer F/G than pigs fed the control diet with 0.55% Cl from added salt. Pigs fed the control diet and the 0.55% Cl diet had similar ADG. When pigs were fed the common diet from d 14 to 21, ADG decreased (linear, P = 0.045) and ADFI increased (linear, P = 0.033) in pigs previously fed increasing dietary Cl concentration. Pigs previously fed increasing Cl concentration had poorer (quadratic, P \u3c 0.001) F/G. Pigs previously fed the 0.55% Cl diet had greater (P = 0.009) ADFI but tended (P = 0.059) to have poorer F/G than pigs previously fed the control diet with 0.55% Cl from added salt. There was no evidence of difference to indicate that previously feeding the control diet or the 0.55% Cl diet affected ADG. From d 0 to 21, ADG improved (quadratic, P = 0.002) as dietary Cl increased from 0.09 to 0.32% with no further benefits observed thereafter. Average daily feed intake increased (linear, P = 0.002) as dietary Cl increased. Pigs fed the 0.55% Cl diet had increased (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI but poorer F/G than pigs fed the control diet with no evidence of difference to indicate that dietary treatments affected ADG. In conclusion, results of this study indicate a dietary Cl concentration of 0.32% would optimize ADG, ADFI, and F/G of 15 to 25 lb pigs, which is slightly lower than the NRC current estimate of 0.45%

Effects of Increasing Salt Concentration on Growth Performance of 25- to 67-lb Nursery Pigs

A total of 300 pigs (Line 241 × 600; DNA, Columbus, NE; initially 25.0 lb BW) was used in a 34-d growth trial to determine the effects of added dietary salt on the growth performance of nursery pigs weighing 25 to 67 lb. Upon entry to the nursery, pigs were allotted by BW and fed a phase 1 common starter diet (0.50% Na and 0.67% Cl) for 11 d and then a common phase 2 diet (0.35% Na and 0.59% Cl) from day 11 to 25 after weaning. At d 25 after weaning, considered d 0 in the trial, pigs were allotted by pen weight and assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments containing either 0.20, 0.35, 0.50, 0.65, or 0.80% salt. This corresponds to calculated dietary Na levels of 0.10, 0.16, 0.22, 0.28, and 0.34%, respectively. Calculated Cl levels were 0.23, 0.32, 0.41, 0.50, and 0.59%, respectively. A common diet containing 0.35% lb/ton salt (0.16% Na and 0.29% Cl), was then fed from d 27 to 34. From d 0 to 14, ADG, ADFI, and F/G improved (quadratic, P \u3c 0.001, 0.089, and 0.012, respectively) as added salt increased from 0.20 to 0.65%, with no further benefits observed thereafter. From d 14 to 27, there was no significant effect on ADG; however, pigs fed 0.50% added salt had numerically the greatest ADG. Average daily feed intake increased (linear, P \u3c 0.001) and F/G marginally worsened (linear, P \u3c 0.095) with increasing added salt. From d 0 to 27, ADG and F/G improved (quadratic, P \u3c 0.05 and 0.054, respectively) using up to 0.5% added salt while ADFI increased (linear, P \u3c 0.001). From d 27 to 34, when pigs were fed a common diet, there was no evidence of difference to indicate that previous dietary treatments influenced ADG; however, ADFI, and d 34 BW increased (linear, P \u3c 0.001) while F/G worsened (linear, P \u3c 0.001) with increasing salt previously fed from d 0 to 27. In conclusion, results of this study indicate that the pig’s Na and Cl requirement estimate changes and that diets for pigs weighing 25 to 45 lb, should be formulated with enough added salt to provide 0.28% Na and 0.48% Cl, which in this study was 0.65%. However, from 45 to 67 lb, 0.20% Na and .39% Cl (0.50% added salt) was sufficient to maximize growth performance

Effect of Calsporin on Nursing Piglet Growth Performance and Fecal Microflora

A total of 26 lactating sows (DNA 241, DNA Genetics, Columbus, NE) and litters were used in a discovery study to evaluate the effects of Calsporin, a direct-fed microbial containing Bacillus subtilis C-3102, on fecal microflora of nursing pigs. The treatments consisted of providing a daily oral dose of Calsporin or a placebo control to piglets during the nursing phase. Sows were randomly assigned to treatments based on farrowing date, parity, and initial BW. The treatments were applied individually to piglets once a day from d 2 after farrowing and equalization until weaning on d 19. Sow BW, sow ADFI, piglet BW, piglet weight gain, litter size, and mortality were recorded on a weekly basis until weaning. Fecal scoring was conducted to categorize the consistency of the feces using a numerical scale from 1 to 5. Also, fecal samples were collected directly from the rectum of the piglets and pooled by litter for microbial analysis. Fecal scoring and microbial analysis were performed on d 2 after birth, and after 1 or 2 weeks of treatment. As expected, and not a primary objective of this study, there was no evidence for differences among treatments on sow and litter performance (P \u3e 0.085). There was no evidence for differences on fecal score at the beginning of the trial and after 1 or 2 weeks of Calsporin supplementation (P \u3e 0.358). Microbial analysis revealed an increase in levels of total Bacillus sp. (P \u3c 0.001) and a decrease in total aerobes (P \u3c 0.026) in litters treated with Calsporin. There was no evidence for differences in number of Lactobacillus sp., Enterococcus sp., Clostridium perfringens, Enterobacteriaceae, and total anaerobes between control- and Calsporin-treated litters (P \u3e 0.05). In conclusion, once per day supplementation of Calsporin to nursing pigs resulted in slight changes in fecal microflora, but there was no influence on nursing pig fecal consistency

Effects of Antimicrobial or Probiotic Treatments on Growth Performance of 13- to 56-lb Nursery Pigs

A total of 612 nursery pigs (21-d of age; Line 241 × 600; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in two 44-d experiments to determine effects of antibiotic or different probiotic products on nursery pig performance and fecal consistency. In Experiment 1, 297 pigs (initially 12.8 lb) were used with 6 replications per treatment and 5 or 6 pigs per pen. In Experiment 2, 315 pigs (initially 13.3 lb) were used with 7 replications per treatment and 5 pigs per pen. In both experiments, pens were randomly allotted to 1 of 9 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design. The nine treatment diets included a control diet, or the control diet with either carbadox (Mecadox-2.5 Phibro Animal Health, Teaneck, NJ) at 50 g/ton, BioPlus 2B (Chr. Hansen USA, Inc., Milwaukee, WI) with an inclusion rate of 0.05%, or 1 of 6 DSM Probiotic products (DSM Nutritional Products, Inc., Parsippany, NJ) with an inclusion rate of 0.20%. For Experiment 1, pigs fed the diet containing carbadox had increased (P \u3c 0.05) ADG compared to pigs fed the control diet or diets containing DSM Probiotic 1, 2, 3, or 6, with the other probiotic treatments intermediate. Pigs fed the diet with carbadox had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI compared to those fed the control or diets containing DSM Probiotic 1, 2, or 3, with the other probiotic treatments intermediate. Feed efficiency was not affected by treatment. For fecal consistency, there was no evidence to indicate a treatment effect (P \u3e 0.05) or treatment × day interaction (P = 0.951). For Experiment 2, pigs fed carbadox had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG than all other treatments. Pigs fed BioPlus 2B had greater (P \u3c 0.05) ADG compared to those fed the diet containing DSM Probiotic 3, with the control and all other probiotic treatments intermediate. Pigs fed carbadox had increased (P \u3c 0.05) ADFI compared to the control and DSM Probiotics, with BioPlus 2B intermediate. There was no evidence of difference to indicate that dietary treatment influenced F/G nor to indicate a treatment effect for fecal consistency. In summary, pigs fed diets containing carbadox consistently had increased ADG and ADFI compared to pigs fed any of the other dietary treatments. There was no evidence the probiotics improved performance based on these results; however, the DSM probiotic 4 had the highest numerical ADG of all the DSM products relative to the nonmedicated control diet in both experiments