The addition of Enterococcus faecium to diet improves piglet's intestinal microbiota and performance

Two experiments were conducted to compare a standard piglet diet (T1) to a diet including a probiotic, the Enterococcus faecium strain CECT 4515, at a dosage of 106CFU/g of feed (T2).In the first trial, 112 piglets were randomly allocated to 16 pens and monitored from day 28 to 56 of age for performance parameters. The probiotic treatment resulted in heavier piglets; at the end of the trial piglets weighed 7.7% more than the control piglets (18.1 vs. 19.5 kg; P<0.05). Additionally, the inclusion of the E. faecium strain CECT 4515 significantly improved the piglet growth during the trial (392 vs. 443. g/day; P<0.05) and feed conversion ratio (1.74 vs. 1.60. g feed/g gain; P<0.05).In the second trial, 36 piglets in six pens were studied using the same experimental treatments but with focus on the changes of ileal, cecal and faecal microbiota of piglets. The probiotic increased the counts (plate culturing in MRS Agar) of lactobacilli in ileum, caecum and faeces (7.9×106 vs. 5.9×105; P<0.05; 5.0×107 vs. 3.1×107; P<0.12 and 3.9×107 vs. 5.0×106; P<0.05, respectively) and reduced the number (plate culturing in MacConkey Agar) of coliforms at the ileum level (1.2×105 vs. 1.3×106 P<0.01).Therefore, it can be concluded that the addition of E. faecium CECT 4515 at a dosage of 106CFU/g to the diet of piglets improves their intestinal microbiota balance and promotes an easier transition to solid feed, as indicated by the improved growth and feed conversion that the animals achieved after weaning. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.Peer Reviewe