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Effects of Creep Feed Provision on Behavior and Performance of Piglets Around Weaning.

ABSTRACT: Creep feed provision may ease weaning, hence we determined the impact of providing fibrous creep feed before weaning and adding this feed to the post-weaning diet on piglet behavior and performance. Pre-weaning, litters with on average 12 piglets were given creep feed (CF, n = 12 litters) or not (NF, n = 10 litters). Post-weaning, piglets (n = 8 pens with 4 piglets/treatment) were given a weaner diet (CON) or weaner diet supplemented with creep feed (CS). Behaviors were scored in the home pen at d11, 16, 22 and 27 after birth and at wk 1 and 2 post-weaning. Feed intake, growth and fecal consistency were measured up to d14 post-weaning. A blood sample was taken at d2, 15 and 29 after birth and d2, 5 and 14 post-weaning. CF-piglets consumed on average 397 ± 71 g creep feed before weaning. CF-piglets grew faster in the last week before weaning than NF-piglets (249 ± 7 vs. 236 ± 11 g/d, F _{(1, 18)} = 5.81, P = 0.03). However, CF- and NF-piglets did not differ in weaning weight, within-litter coefficient of variation in weaning weight, behaviors in the farrowing and weaner pen, and haptoglobin concentrations. Creep feed supplementation enhanced feed exploration at wk 2 post-weaning (0.29 ± 0.08 vs. 0.11 ± 0.03%, F _{(1, 27)} = 5.27, P = 0.03), but did not affect other post-weaning behaviors. Pre-weaning creep feed provision and post-weaning creep feed supplementation did not affect overall feed intake, growth, feed efficiency and fecal consistency for the first 14 days post-weaning, neither body weight at d14 post-weaning. Nevertheless, CF-piglets had a lower within-pen coefficient of variation in body weight at d14 post-weaning than NF-piglets (13.6 ± 1.9 vs. 15.1 ± 1.5%, F _{(1, 26)} = 6.89, P = 0.01). In conclusion, pre-weaning creep feed provision and post-weaning creep feed supplementation had no clear effects on piglet behavior and performance.

SUBMITTER: Middelkoop A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7689248 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of Creep Feed Provision on Behavior and Performance of Piglets Around Weaning.

Middelkoop Anouschka A Choudhury Raka R Gerrits Walter J J WJJ Kemp Bas B Kleerebezem Michiel M Bolhuis J Elizabeth JE

Frontiers in veterinary science 20201112

Creep feed provision may ease weaning, hence we determined the impact of providing fibrous creep feed before weaning and adding this feed to the post-weaning diet on piglet behavior and performance. Pre-weaning, litters with on average 12 piglets were given creep feed (CF, n = 12 litters) or not (NF, n = 10 litters). Post-weaning, piglets (n = 8 pens with 4 piglets/treatment) were given a weaner diet (CON) or weaner diet supplemented with creep feed (CS). Behaviors were scor ...[more]

PMID: 33282925

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Project description:BackgroundPiglets at weaning suffer many stressors such as sudden change of feed, change in group composition and the end of lactogenic immunity. These stressors may cause poor growth performance. There is a need for alternatives to support piglets during the weaning period. Organic acids are known to have a positive effect on performance through reducing the pH and their antimicrobial action.Context & purposeThe purpose was to study the effect of the inclusion of a free and buffered organic acid blend in drinking water on performance of weaned pigs. Four-hundred and twenty pigs in a conventional herd were allocated after weaning to one of three treatments and monitored during 4 weeks: group (1) Full medication, group (2) organic acid blend + full medication, group (3) organic acid blend + reduced medication. Average daily gain, feed intake and water consumption was recorded at group level.ResultsDuring the overall study period live weight and average daily gain of the piglets was significantly higher (P <0.001) for treatment (3) compared to (1) and (2) (Table 1). Live weight was significantly higher for treatment (3) compared to (1) from week 2 of the study (Fig. 1). No significant differences were found for average daily feed intake. FCR for treatment (3) improved by 1.0 compared to treatment (1) in week 1 (P <0.05), while in week 2 and 3 no significant differences were found (Table 2). Overall, FCR was with 0.3 difference significantly lower (P = 0.001) for treatment (3) than for (1) and (2) (Table 1). Pigs receiving organic acids in drinking water had significantly (P <0.05) higher water consumption than group (1) in weeks 3 and 4 (Table 2).Conclusion & potential implicationsThe use of a blend of free and buffered organic acids together with a reduced medication program improves growth performance during the first month after weaning compared to a control with full medication and a combination between organic acids and full medication. This implies that organic acids could be used as a valid alternative for antibiotic reduction in post-weaning pigs. The treatment also increased the drinking water intake.

Project description:Timely intake of solid feed is essential to ease the nutritional change from sow's milk to solid feed at weaning and thereby to reduce weaning-related problems. A significant percentage of piglets, however, do not or hardly consume solid feed before weaning. We studied effects of dietary variety and presenting the feed in substrate during lactation on the feeding behavior and performance of piglets up to 2 weeks post-weaning. Feed was provided ad libitum from d4 in two feeders, with four bowls each. In a 2 × 2 arrangement, 40 litters received either creep feed as a monotonous diet (MO) or four feed items simultaneously, i.e., creep feed, celery, cereal honey loops and peanuts, as a diverse diet (DD) and the feed was either provided without (CON) or with substrate (SUB), i.e., sand, in one of the two feeders up to weaning. Dietary diversity highly stimulated feed exploration and eating (?2.5 times), feed intake and the percentage of (good) eaters from early in lactation, and enhanced piglet growth toward weaning (by 29 g/d), although MO-piglets spent more time eating creep feed from d18. Within MO, SUB-litters consisted of more good eaters than CON-litters. At weaning (d28) four piglets from the same treatment were grouped (n = 40 pens). DD-CON had the highest post-weaning feed intake and gain between d5-15 and the lowest proportion of pigs with higher tail damage scores. However, effects regarding behavior remained inconclusive, as DD-piglets had a lower and higher number of body lesions at 4 h and d15 post-weaning, respectively, spent less time exploring the feed(er) and drinker and environment, and more time nosing pen mates than MO-piglets. SUB-piglets showed a reduction in total post-weaning feed intake, gain (particularly between d0-2) and inactivity, increased levels of manipulation and aggression at week 1 and a higher number of body lesions at 4 h and d15 post-weaning. In conclusion, dietary diversity seems a promising feeding strategy in getting piglets to eat during lactation. Provision of substrate in the feeder subtly stimulated foraging behavior, but negatively impacted post-weaning adaptation, probably because treatments were not reinforced after weaning and piglets thus experienced loss of enrichment.

Project description:Antibiotics are commonly overused to reduce weaning stress that leads to economic loss in swine production. As potential substitutes of antibiotics, plant extracts have attracted the attention of researchers. However, one of the plant extracts, tannic acid (TA), has an adverse effect on the growth performance, palatability, and intestinal absorption in weaning piglets when used at a large amount. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of a proper dose of microencapsulated TA on the growth performance, organ and intestinal development, intestinal morphology, intestinal nutrient transporters, and colonic microbiota in weaning piglets. Forty-five Duroc × [Landrace × Yorkshire] (initial body weight = 5.99 ± 0.13 kg, weaned days = 21 d) piglets were randomly divided into five treatment groups (n = 9) and raised in 14 d. The piglets in the control group were raised on a basal diet; the piglets in the antibiotic test group were raised on a basal diet with three antibiotics (375 mg/kg Chlortetracycline 20%, 500 mg/kg Enramycin 4%, 1,500 mg/kg Oxytetracycline calcium 20%); and the other three groups were raised on a basal diet with three doses of microencapsulated TA (TA1, 500 mg/kg; TA2, 1,000 mg/kg; TA3, 1,500 mg/kg). All the piglets were raised in the same environment and given the same amount of nutrients for 2 wk. The results showed that both TA1 and TA2 groups had no adverse effect on the growth performance, organ weight and intestinal growth, and the pH value of gastrointestinal content. TA2 treatment improved the duodenal morphology (P < 0.05), increased the gene expression level of solute carrier family 6, member 19 and solute carrier family 15, member 1 (P < 0.05) in the ileum, and modulated the colonic bacteria composition (P < 0.05), but inhibited the activity of maltase in the ileum (P < 0.05) and the jejunal gene expression level of solute carrier family 5, member 1 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our study suggests that a dosage between 500 and 1,000 mg/kg of microencapsulated TA is safe to be included in the swine diet and that 1,000 mg/kg of microencapsulated TA has beneficial effects on intestinal morphology, intestinal nutrient transporter, and intestinal microbiota in weaning piglets. These findings provide new insights into suitable alternatives to antibiotics for improving growth performance and colonic microbiota.

Project description:The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary folic acid on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, and intestinal epithelial cells renewal in post-weaning piglets. Twenty-eight piglets (weaned at day 21, initial body weight of 6.73 ± 0.62 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments with 7 pens per diet and 1 piglet per pen. The piglets were fed the same antibiotic-free and zinc oxide-free basal diets supplemented with folic acid at 0, 3, 9, and 18 mg/kg for 14 days. The results showed that dietary supplementation with folic acid increased villus height (VH) (P = 0.003; linear, P = 0.001), VH-to-crypt depth (VH:CD) ratio (P = 0.002; linear, P = 0.001), villus surface area (VSA) (P = 0.026; linear, P = 0.010). The analyzed parameters ADG, serum urea nitrogen (BUN) content, VH, VSA, and serum folate (SF) concentration responded linearly to the dietary folic acid concentration when the dietary folic acid concentration was below 4.42, 5.26, 4.79, 3.47, and 3.53 mg/kg respectively (R 2 = 0.995, 0.995, 0.999, 0.999, 0.872, P = 0.09, 0.07, 0.09, 0.09, 0.36, respectively), as assessed by a two-linear broken-line regression. Above these breakpoints, the response of ADG, VH, VSA, and SF plateaued in response to changes in dietary folic acid concentration. Moreover, dietary supplementation with folic acid significantly increased the lactase (P = 0.001; linear, P = 0.001) and sucrase activities (P = 0.021; linear, P = 0.010) in the jejunal mucosa of weaned piglets. The mRNA expression of solute carrier family 6 member 19 (SLC6a19), solute carrier family 1 member 1 (SLC7a1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), the number of Ki67 positive cells, and cell shedding rate had a significant linear contrast (P = 0.023, 0.021, 0.038, 0.049, and 0.008, respectively) in dietary folic acid groups. In conclusion, our results indicate that folic acid supplementation can improve the growth performance and intestinal morphology of weaned piglets by maintaining the balance of epithelial cell renewal.

Dataset Information

Effects of Creep Feed Provision on Behavior and Performance of Piglets Around Weaning.

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Effects of Creep Feed Provision on Behavior and Performance of Piglets Around Weaning.

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