PSVI-18 - Tonisity PxW Improves Water Intake and Reduces Pig Mortality and Fall-behinds Post-weaning–A Meta-analysis

Abstract: The objective of this study was to assess the effects of Tonisity PxW (Tonisity Inc., St. Joseph, MO, USA) on pig post-weaning water intake, nursery mortality and fall-behinds. Tonisity PxW is a water-soluble supplement containing essential gut-enhancing amino-acids and electrolytes.

This meta-analysis included 31,861 pigs from seven commercial USA wean-finish farms. Piglets were weaned at 16-23 days and traveled to the weaner farm for 3-15 hours. Pigs were randomly allocated to treatment, with each of the treatments receiving either Tonisity PxW or plain water (Control). Separate water meters were installed for each treatment. Tonisity PxW was administered to pigs ad libitum through the waterlines, at a 0.2%-0.1%-0.1%-0.05%-0.05% concentration on days 1-2-3-4-5 post-weaning.

5-day water intake data was available for all farms (N=70 data points). Three-week mortality and fall-behind data was available for three (N=15,286 pigs) and four (N=17,070 pigs) of the farms, respectively.

Water intake data was analyzed using SAS 9.4 PROC MIXED, as repeated-measures, with treatment as a fixed effect, day as a repeated variable and study as random. Water intake data is presented as LSM±SEM. Mortality and fall-behinds were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. Differences were considered significant at P≤0.05.

The PxW pigs had a 1.7x higher water intake than Controls, on average, over the 5 days post-weaning (0.78±0.10 L/pig vs 0.46±0.10 L/pig; P< 0.001) (Table 1). Compared to Controls, the Tonisity PxW group had 36% lower mortality (2.3% vs 3.6%; P< 0.0001), and 18% fewer fall-behinds (10.1% vs 12.3%; P< 0.0001). Pigs given Tonisity PxW had significantly lower mortality, fewer fall-behinds, and higher water intake compared to pigs given only water in the first 5 days post-weaning.