PSXVI-29 - Late-Breaking: Effect of dietary organic acids supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and gut health in weaned pigs

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with different organic acid (OA) mixtures on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and gut health in weaned pigs. A total of 56 weaned pigs (7.93 ± 1.04 kg BW) were assigned to 4 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with 7 replicates per treatment for a 35-d study conducted over two phases; phase 1 (d 1 to 14) and phase 2 (d 14 to 35). Each pen had two pigs balanced for sex. Diets consisted of 1) a corn-soybean meal-basal without any additive (negative control, NC); 2) NC + formic and propionic acids (TRT1); 3) NC + butyric, formic, and propionic acids (TRT2); and 4) NC + antibiotic (positive control, PC). Individual pig body weight and feed disappearance were recorded weekly. At the end of each phase, blood and feces were sampled. The female pig in each pen was euthanized on d 35 to collect digesta and intestinal tissue. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED of SAS. During the overall period, ADG tended to be lower (P = 0.069) in the TRT2 group than in the PC group. Diet had no effect on ADFI during the overall period, but G:F of pigs fed the PC and TRT1 diets tended to be higher (P = 0.059) than that of the NC diet. No effects of OA supplementation were observed on nutrient digestibility and blood cytokine. Jejunal villus height to crypt depth ratio was higher (P < 0.05) in TRT1-fed pigs than that of NC-fed pigs. Pigs fed the TRT2 diet had a higher (P < 0.05) fecal abundance of Bifidobacteria than those fed the PC diet in phase 1. In conclusion, dietary OA supplementation had positive effects on growth performance and gut health but no effect on nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs.