Effects of Dietary Enterococcus faecium SF68 on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Faecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

Chen, Y.J.; Min, B.J.; Cho, J.H.; Kwon, O.S.; Son, K.S.; Kim, I.H.; Kim, S.J.

doi:2006.19.3.406

Article

Swine Nutrition and Feed Technology

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2006;19(3): 406-411.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2006.406 Published online February 1, 2006.

Effects of Dietary Enterococcus faecium SF68 on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Faecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

Y.J. Chen, B.J. Min, J.H. Cho, O.S. Kwon, K.S. Son, I.H. Kim^*, S.J. Kim

Correspondence: I.H. Kim,

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding probiotic (Enterococcus faecium SF68, EF) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and faecal noxious gas content in finishing pigs. A total of eighty [(Landrace횞Yorkshire)횞Duroc] pigs with an initial BW of 50.47 2.13 kg were used in this 8-week experiment. Pigs were allotted to four treatments (4 replicates per treatment and 5 pigs per pen) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were: 1) CON (control; basal diet), 2) CTC (control diet+0.1% antibiotic, chlortetracycline), 3) EF1 (control diet+0.1% probiotic, EF) and 4) EF2 (control diet+0.2% probiotic, EF). During weeks 0-4, ADG was not affected by the addition of antibiotic or EF (p>0.05). In weeks 4-8, ADG tended to increase in CTC and EF treatments compared to CON treatment (p<0.10). ADFI and gain/feed were not affected in each 4-week period and the entire experimental period (p>0.05). Digestibilities of DM and N were higher in EF supplemented treatments than in CON and CTC treatments (p<0.05). Blood characteristics of WBC, RBC and lymphocyte were not affected in pigs given diets containing EF (p>0.05). Supplementation of EF in the diet decreased faecal ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) concentrations (p<0.05). Faecal acetic acid concentration tended to decrease (p<0.10) while propionic acid and butyric acid concentrations were significantly lower on diets with EF supplementation than on the diet containing antibiotic (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of EF can increase nutrient digestibility and decrease faecal NH3-N, H2S and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in finishing pigs. 1 Yuhan Co., Ltd, Korea.

Keywords: Enterococcus faecium SF68; Digestibility; Blood Characteristics; Faecal Noxious Gas; Pigs