• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.511-515
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• 2000

Early weaning is a means of breaking the disease cycle from sow to piglet as well as capitalising on the enormous growth potential of the pig. However, the transition from milk to dry diets results in a growth check. Feeding of supplemental milk, fermented to reduce pH and enterotoxigenic bactetial proliferation, may be a means of gradually weaning pigs on to solid feed. This study involved 216 pigs weaned from the sow at 12 days of age, allocated to groups of 6 males and 6 females per weaner pen and allowed ad libitum access to a pelleted diet. In addition, half the pigs were given supplemental fermented skim milk for the first 8 days after weaning. Feeding supplemental fermented milk increased feed intake (104 vs. 157 g DM/d, p=0.011), average daily gain (-3 vs. 112 g/d, p<0.001) and feed conversion efficiency (0.01 vs. 0.81, p=0.003) over the first 8 days after weaning. The improvements observed in the supplemented pigs continued to be augmented such that, by 42 days of age, the pigs that had received supplemental fermented milk were heavier (9.6 vs. 11.5 kg, p=0.003) than their unsupplemented counterparts. Feeding fermented supplemental milk to early-weaned pigs can improve growth performance in the immediate and subsequent post-weaning period.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1444-1452
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• 2007

An in vitro experiment was conducted to evaluate the differences in microbial activity of five faecal inocula from weaned pigs and one faecal inoculum from unweaned pigs in combination with 6 substrates. The substrates tested were negative control diet, corn, soybean meal, oligofructose (OF), ground chicory roots and a mixture (60% chicory pulp and 40% OF). The inocula used were derived from pigs fed either a corn-soy based diet without antibiotics (NCON), the NCON diet supplemented with oligofructose (OF), a mixture of chicory pulp (40%) and OF (60%) (MIX), ground chicory roots (CHR) or the NCON diet supplemented with antibiotics (PCON). The cumulative gas production measured fermentation kinetics and end products, such as total gas production, ammonia and volatile fatty acids, were also determined. Both the substrate and the inoculum significantly affected the fermentation characteristics. The cumulative gas production curve showed that different substrates caused more differences in traits of fermentation kinetics than the different inocula. Inocula of weaned pigs gave a significantly higher VFA production compared to the inoculum from unweaned animals, whilst the rate of fermentation and the total gas produced did not differ. OF showed the highest fermentation kinetics and the lowest $NH_3$, pH and OM loss compared to other substrates. It was concluded that the microbial activity was significantly affected by substrate and inoculum. Inoculum from weaned pigs had more potential for microbial fermentation of the carbohydrate ingredients and oligofructose than that of unweaned pigs. A combination of high and low polymer inulin may be more beneficial to the gut ecosystem than using high- or low-polymer inulin alone.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.113-117
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• 2015

Cryptosporidium spp., ubiquitous enteric parasitic protozoa of vertebrates, recently emerged as an important cause of economic loss and zoonosis. The present study aimed to determine the distribution and species of Cryptosporidium in post-weaned and adult pigs in Shaanxi province, northwestern China. A total of 1,337 fresh fecal samples of post-weaned and adult pigs were collected by sterile disposable gloves from 8 areas of Shaanxi province. The samples were examined by Sheather's sugar flotation technique and microscopy at${\times}400$ magnification for Cryptosporidium infection, and the species in positive samples was further identified by PCR amplification of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene. A total of 44 fecal samples were successfully amplified by the nested PCR of the partial SSU rRNA, with overall prevalence of 3.3%. The average prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in each pig farms ranged from 0 to 14.4%. Species identification by sequencing of SSU rRNA gene revealed that 42 (3.1%) samples were Cryptosporidium suis and 2 (0.15%) were Cryptosporidium scrofarum. C. suis had the highest prevalence (7.5%) in growers and the lowest in breeding pigs (0.97%). C. suis was the predominant species in pre-weaned and adult pigs, while C. scrofarum infected pigs older than 3 months only. A season-related difference of C. suis was observed in this study, with the highest prevalence in autumn (5.5%) and the lowest (1.7%) in winter. The present study provided basic information for control of Cryptosporidium infection in pigs and assessment of zoonotic transmission of pigs in Shaanxi province, China.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.1419-1424
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• 2001

Previous research in our laboratory has demonstrated the importance of lactose in phase I and II pig starter diets. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of a carbohydrate by-product (food by-products) as a replacement for lactose. In Exp. I, 120 weaned pigs ($14{\pm}2d$ and 5.65kg) were allotted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) to 10 replications with four pigs per pen. This experiment evaluated three carbohydrate sources (lactose, carbohydrate by-product, and 50-50 blend of the carbohydrate by-product and lactose). The carbohydrate sources were added at 26% in the phase I diets and 15% in the phase II diets. Phase I diets contained 7.5% spray dried plasma protein (SDP). The phase I diets were fed from d 0 to 14 and the phase II diets from d 15 to 28. There were no significant differences between carbohydrate sources on pig performance in phase I. However, during phase II pigs fed the diet with lactose had an improved gain/feed ratio (G/F) (p=0.06) compared to pigs fed the carbohydrate by-product. For the entire 28 d trial ADG, ADFI and G/F were similar for the 50-50 blend and those fed lactose. Total replacement of lactose with the carbohydrate byproduct resulted in a reduced G/F (p=0.09). Exp. 2 used 100 weaned pigs ($17{\pm}2d$ and 4.75kg) with five replications with five pigs per pen. This experiment evaluated four carbohydrate treatments (lactose, carbohydrate by-products, 50-50 blend, and corn). All phase I diets contained 3.5% SDP with the carbohydrate sources included at 15%, and were fed d 0 to 14. The phase II diets contained 7.5% of the carbohydrate sources and were fed d 15 to 27. A common phase III diet was fed d 28 to 42. During all phases pigs fed com tended to have a lower ADG than pigs fed the other carbohydrate sources with the 50-50 blend resulting in the highest ADG. The results of both experiments suggest that this carbohydrate by-product can replace at least 50% of the lactose in phase I and phase II pig starter diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1163-1170
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• 2015

Two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus johnsonii x-1d-2 and Lactobacillus mucosae x-4w-1, originally isolated from piglet feces, have been demonstrated to possess antimicrobial activities, antibiotic resistances and interleukin-6 induction ability in RAW 267.4 macrophages in our previous study. These characteristics make L. johnsonii x-1d-2 and L. mucosae x-4w-1 good candidates for application in feed probiotics. In this study, soybeal meal, molasses and sodium acetate were selected to optimize the growth medium for cultivation of L. johnsonii x-1d-2 and L. mucosae x-4w-1. These two strains were then freeze-dried and mixed into the basal diet to feed the weaned piglets. The effects of L. johnsonii x-1d-2 and L. mucosae x-4w-1 on the growth performance and fecal microflora of weaned piglets were investigated. The results showed that the bacterial numbers of L. johnsonii x-1d-2 and L. mucosae x-4w-1 reached a maximum of 8.90 and 9.30 log CFU/mL, respectively, when growing in optimal medium consisting of 5.5% (wt/vol) soybean meal, 1.0% (wt/vol) molasses and 1.0% (wt/vol) sodium acetate. The medium cost was 96% lower than the commercial de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe medium. In a further feeding study, the weaned piglets fed basal diet supplemented with freeze-dried probiotic cultures exhibited higher (p<0.05) body weight gain, feed intake, and gain/feed ratio than weaned piglets fed basal diet. Probiotic feeding also increased the numbers of lactobacilli and decreased the numbers of E. coli in the feces of weaned piglets. This study demonstrates that L. johnsonii x-1d-2 and L. mucosae x-4w-1 have high potential to be used as feed additives in the pig industry.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.1053-1064
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• 2023

Melatonin, which is produced from tryptophan, exerts various biological functions, including the regulation of circadian rhythm, sedative agents, and antioxidant ability. Therefore, we conducted two experiments with early-weaned rats and pigs to investigate the antioxidant and sedative effects of melatonin. In the rat experiment, a total of 42 rats (21 days old) were used, and the antioxidant capacity was determined. Next, we used 120 early-weaned piglets (21 days old) to conduct a 5-week experiment to evaluate the reductive effect of melatonin on energy-wasting movement, including roaming and fight states. Dietary melatonin supplementation significantly improved growth in both rats and pigs compared to the control groups. Additionally, rats fed a melatonin-supplemented diet showed advanced antioxidant capacity with a decrease in hepatic malondialdehyde concentration compared to rats fed a basal diet. Moreover, dietary melatonin ingestion increased resting and feeding behaviors and reduced roaming and fight behaviors during Days 8-21 compared to the control diet group. Collectively, early weaned animals given dietary melatonin supplementation showed improved growth through upregulation of hepatic antioxidant capacity and minimization of energy-wasting behavior, including roaming and fight states, after pigs' social hierarchy establishment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1742-1750
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• 2015

As a novel approach for disease control and prevention, nutritional modulation of the intestinal health has been proved. However, It is still unknown whether branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is needed to maintain intestinal immune-related function. The objective of this study was to determine whether BCAA supplementation in protein restricted diet affects growth performance, intestinal barrier function and modulates post-weaning gut disorders. One hundred and eight weaned piglets ($7.96{\pm}0.26kg$) were randomly fed one of the three diets including a control diet (21% crude protein [CP], CON), a protein restricted diet (17% CP, PR) and a BCAA diet (BCAA supplementation in the PR diet) for 14 d. The growth performance, plasma amino acid concentrations, small intestinal morphology and intestinal immunoglobulins were tested. First, average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.05) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) of weaned pigs in PR group were lower, while gain:feed ratio was lower than the CON group (p<0.05). Compared with PR group, BCAA group improved ADG (p<0.05), ADFI (p<0.05) and feed:gain ratio (p<0.05) of piglets. The growth performance data between CON and BCAA groups was not different (p>0.05). The PR and BCAA treatments had a higher (p<0.05) plasma concentration of methionine and threonine than the CON treatment. The level of some essential and functional amino acids (such as arginine, phenylalanine, histidine, glutamine etc.) in plasma of the PR group was lower (p<0.05) than that of the CON group. Compared with CON group, BCAA supplementation significantly increased BCAA concentrations (p<0.01) and decreased urea concentration (p<0.01) in pig plasma indicating that the efficiency of dietary nitrogen utilization was increased. Compared with CON group, the small intestine of piglets fed PR diet showed villous atrophy, increasing of intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) number (p<0.05) and declining of the immunoglobulin concentration, including jejunal immunoglobulin A (IgA) (p = 0.04), secreted IgA (sIgA) (p = 0.03) and immunoglobulin M (p = 0.08), and ileal IgA (p = 0.01) and immunoglobulin G (p = 0.08). The BCAA supplementation increased villous height in the duodenum (p<0.01), reversed the trend of an increasing IELs number. Notably, BCAA supplementation increased levels of jejunal and ileal immunoglobulin mentioned above. In conclusion, BCAA supplementation to protein restricted diet improved intestinal immune defense function by protecting villous morphology and by increasing levels of intestinal immunoglobulins in weaned piglets. Our finding has the important implication that BCAA may be used to reduce the negative effects of a protein restricted diet on growth performance and intestinal immunity in weaned piglets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1484-1489
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• 2013

The study was conducted to determine the effects of chitosan on the concentrations of GH and IGF-I in serum and small intestinal morphological structure of piglets, in order to evaluate the regulating action of chitosan on weaned pig growth through endocrine and intestinal morphological approaches. A total of 180 weaned pigs (35 d of age; $11.56{\pm}1.61kg$ of body weight) were selected and assigned randomly to 5 dietary treatments, including 1 basal diet (control) and 4 diets with chitosan supplementation (100, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg, respectively). Each treatment contained six replicate pens with six pigs per pen. The experiment lasted for 28 d. The results showed that the average body weight gain (BWG) of pigs was improved quadratically by dietary chitosan during the former 14 d and the later 14 d after weaned (p<0.05). Furthermore, dietary supplementation of chitosan tended to quadratically increase the concentration of serum GH on d 14 (p = 0.082) and 28 (p = 0.087). Diets supplemented with increasing levels of chitosan increased quadratically the villus height of jejunum and ileum on d 14 (p = 0.089, p<0.01) and 28 (p = 0.074, p<0.01), meanwhile, chitosan increased quadratically the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in duodenum, jejunum and ileum on d 14 (p<0.05, p = 0.055, p<0.01) and 28 (p<0.01, p<0.01, p<0.01), however, it decreased quadratically crypt depth in ileum on d 14 (p<0.05) and that in duodenum, jejunum and ileum on d 28 (p<0.01, p<0.05, p<0.05). In conclusion, these results indicated that chitosan could quadratically improve growth in weaned pigs, and the underlying mechanism may due to the increase of the serum GH concentration and improvement of the small intestines morphological structure.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1643-1652
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• 2021

Objective: Two experiments were conducted to provide a new approach for evaluating feed nutritional value by metabolizable glucose (MG) in piglet diets with different levels of starch and crude fiber. In Exp 1, a regression equation for MG was generated. In Exp 2, the equation was verified, and the optimal growth performance of piglets under appropriate MG levels was tested. Methods: In Exp 1, 20 weaned piglets (7.74±0.81 kg body weight [BW]) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments, including the basal diet containing different levels of MG (starch, 25.80%, 31.67%, 45.71%, 49.36%; crude fiber, 1.23%, 1.35%, 1.80%, 1.51%). The piglets were implanted with an ileal fistula, cannulation of the carotid artery, portal vein, and mesenteric artery. The chyme from the ileum fistula and blood samples were collected. In Exp 2, 30 weaned piglets (8.96±0.50 kg BW) were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatments, including the experimental diets with different levels of MG (37.6, 132.5, 300.0, 354.3, and 412.5 g/kg). The piglets' BW, and feed consumption were recorded to calculate growth performance during the 28-d experiment. Results: In Exp 1, the MG levels in 4 diets were 239.62, 280.68, 400.79, and 454.35 g/kg. The regression equation for the MG levels and dietary nutrients was: Y (MG) = 12.13×X₁ (starch)+23.18×X₂ (crude fiber)-196.44 (R² = 0.9989, p = 0.033). In Exp 2, treatments with 132.5 and 300.0 g/kg MG significantly (p<0.05) increased average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency of weaned piglets, increased digestibility of crude fat, and had no effect on digestibility of crude protein compared to 300.0 to 412.5 g/kg MG. Conclusion: The pig model combining the ileum fistula and cannulation of blood vessels was successfully used to determine the dietary MG levels. The recommended MG level in weaned pig diets is 132.5 to 300.0 g/kg.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.14.1-14.5
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• 2022

Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis causes swine paratyphoid, with clinical findings of enterocolitis and septicemia. However, the clinicopathological features of S. Choleraesuis infections in pigs have not been reported in Korea. We describe the pathological findings of two weaned pigs with S. Choleraesuis infections, presenting with diarrhea, cough, and sudden death. Pathological examination indicated severe necrotic colitis in pig 1 and septicemic lesions in pig 2. Multidrug-resistant S. Choleraesuis was isolated from the pigs' lungs and intestinal contents. Further research is required for the surveillance of S. Choleraesuis infections in pigs and the virulence estimation in the S. Choleraesuis isolates.