Nutritional strategies using lactose and amino acids in diets of weaned pigs
Gain, Feed ratio, Nutritional Additives, Swine
The nursery phase, which follows weaning, is a critical point in pig production, because weaning causes a lot of stress on the animal due to the separation of sow, diet change and litter mixing, which can cause damage. One of the possible strategies for reducing the problems, such as low weight gain, is the use of nutritional additives in the diet, such as amino acids and lactose. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of lactose and amino acid addition in the nursery piglets diet on performance. The work was carried out in a Santa Catarina Agroindustry using 560 piglets weaned at 21 ± 1 days. In Experiment 1 (Exp.1) the piglets were distributed in 28 stalls (20 animals per stall in 7 repetitions) during 42 days. Four levels of lactose inclusion were used (Relat, Renner Herrmann S.A., Brazil): in the frist diet were: Low lactose: 12%; Low average lactose: 14%; High medium lactose: 16%; High lactose: 18%. The second diet the levels were Lactose low: 3%; Low average lactose: 5%; High medium lactose: 7%; High lactose: 9%, the third diet without the addition of lactose. In Experiment 2 (Exp.2), the piglets were distributed in 28 stalls (20 animals per stall in 7 repetitions) during 28 days of the nursery period. Four treatments with amino acid inclusions (AminoGut, Ajinomoto®, Japan) were tested: AMG0: 0%; AMG 0.4: 0.4%; AMG 0.8: 0.8%; and AMG1,2: 1,2% in the diet, including the 3 diets used during the phase. Mortality, feed intake and weight gain were monitored to obtain gain:feed ratio. In Exp.1 the gain:feed ratio of the low lactose group was 1.62 ± 0.03, and the inclusion above the levels used in this group provided no benefit. In Exp.2 the gain:feed ratio of group AMG0 was 1.62 ± 0.02, which not differed from the others (P>0.05). The inclusion of lactose above the limits already used and the amino acid supplementation did not benefit the performance for the nursery piglets.