title: Zinc methionine and laminarin have growth-enhancing properties in newly weaned pigs influencing both intestinal health and diarrhoea occurrence.
abstract: Three experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction between zinc methionine (ZnM) and laminarin (LAM) on piglet growth performance and intestinal health post-weaning. Experiment 1 was designed as 2 × 2 factorial with four treatments [n = 8, weaning age (WA) 24 days, live weight (LW) 7.15 kg]: (i) basal diet (BD); (ii) BD + 500 mg/kg ZnM; (iii) BD + 300 mg/kg LAM; and (iv) BD + 500 mg/kg ZnM + 300 mg/kg LAM. There was an interaction (p < 0.05) between LAM and ZnM. Pigs that were offered the LAM diet had a similar performance to the BD. However, when combining LAM with ZnM, pigs had reduced average daily gain (ADG), gain-to-feed ratio (G:F) and LW at slaughter at day 8 post-weaning compared to the ZnM. Both LAM and ZnM improved the small intestinal morphology of the pigs at day 8 post-weaning. Experiment 2 was designed as 2 × 2 factorial with four dietary treatments (n = 9, WA 24 days, LW 7.32 kg): (i) BD; (ii) BD + 500 mg/kg ZnM; (iii) BD + 175 mg/kg LAM; and (iv) BD + 500 mg/kg ZnM + 175 mg/kg LAM. The ADG and average daily feed intake were improved between day 0 and 31 PW when pigs were offered a LAM diet (p < 0.01). Faecal scores were reduced between day 0 and day 31 post-weaning with ZnM (p < 0.001). Experiment 3 consisted of four dietary treatments (n = 10, WA 24 days, LW 7.32 kg): (i) BD; (ii) BD + 3300 mg/kg zinc oxide (ZnO); (iii) BD + 500 mg/kg ZnM; and (iv) BD + 175 mg/kg LAM. Pigs that were offered the ZnO diet had an increased ADG compared to the BD or ZnM diets (p < 0.01). Pigs that were offered the LAM diet had increased ADG compared to the ZnM diet (p < 0.05). Faecal scores were reduced between day 0 and day 31 PW with ZnM or ZnO supplementation (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the inclusion of 175 mg/kg LAM and ZnO improved ADG while both ZnO and ZnM reduced the faecal scores post-weaning.
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bouwhuis
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhya
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: McAlpine
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: O'Doherty
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005936:Glucans / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects*; D008715:Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D005936:Glucans; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C074508:zinc methionine; C008247:laminaran; D008715:Methionine
keywords: immune response; intestinal morphology; laminarin; microbiology; organic zinc; pigs; weaning