Effects of Folic Acid on Nursery Pig Growth Performance and Serum Homocysteine

Authors

Larissa L. Becker, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Jordan T. Gebhardt, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Mike D. Tokach, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Robert D. Goodband, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Joel M. DeRouchey, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Jason C. Woodworth, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow

Keywords

folic acid, nursery pig, growth, homocysteine

Abstract

A total of 350 barrows (DNA 200 × 400; initially 13.2 ± 0.12 lb) were used in a 38-d growth study to determine the effects of folic acid on nursery pig growth performance and blood measurements. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age and randomly allotted to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. A total of 70 pens were used with 5 pigs per pen and 14 replications per treatment. Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-based and consisted of increasing folic acid: 0, 5, 10, 20, or 40 ppm. Treatment diets were fed in three phases from d 0 to 10 (phase 1), d 10 to 23 (phase 2), and d 23 to 38 (phase 3) after weaning. For phase 1 (d 0 to 10), there were no differences (P>0.10) in BW, ADG, or ADFI across treatments. However, increasing folic acid resulted in poorer F/G (linear,P= 0.032). For phase 2 (d 10 to 23), there was a marginally significant response in BW, ADG, and ADFI where performance was reduced as folic acid increased with the poorest performance observed when pigs were fed 20 ppm (quadratic,P≤ 0.079). No treatment differences (P>0.10) were observed for F/G. For phase 3 (d 23 to 38) and overall (d 0 to 38), there was a significant response in final BW, ADG, ADFI, and F/G where performance was reduced with increasing folic acid with the poorest performance observed when pigs were fed 20 ppm (quadratic,P≤ 0.049). On days 10 and 23, 70 pigs were bled to determine serum homocysteine concentration, and a marginally significant treatment × day interaction was observed (linear folic acid,P= 0.069). An increase (linear,P= 0.037) in homocysteine concentrations was observed as folic acid increased from 0 to 40 ppm in the diet on d 10; however, no differences were observed across increasing folic acid treatments on d 23 (P= 0.450). Pigs had increased (P<0.001) homocysteine concentrations on d 10 compared to d 23. In summary, the addition of folic acid resulted in reduced growth performance with the greatest impact being observed when pigs were fed 20 ppm.

Recommended Citation

Becker, Larissa L.; Gebhardt, Jordan T.; Tokach, Mike D.; Goodband, Robert D.; DeRouchey, Joel M.; and Woodworth, Jason C. (2023) "Effects of Folic Acid on Nursery Pig Growth Performance and Serum Homocysteine," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: Vol. 9: Iss. 7. https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.8512