Evaluation of Elarom SES with or without Tri-basic Copper Chloride on Nursery Pig Growth Performance

A total of 360 weanling pigs (DNA 200 × 400; initially 11.5 lb BW) were used in a 42-d study evaluating the effects of feeding Elarom SES in combination with increasing tri-basic copper chloride on nursery pig performance and fecal consistency. Elarom SES (Trouw Nutrition USA, Highland, IL) is a specialty feed ingredient containing a blend of active ingredients designed to enhance growth performance and gut health. Tri-basic copper chloride (TBCC, Intellibond C, Micronutrients USA, LLC., Indianapolis, IN) is a form of copper (Cu) that has the potential for improved bioavailability and enhanced growth performance. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d and allotted to pens based on initial BW in a completely randomized design. Experimental diets were fed in 3 phases (phase 1, d 0 to 7; phase 2, d 7 to 21; and phase 3, d 21 to 42 postweaning) in meal form. Experimental treatments were arranged as a 2 × 3 factorial with main effects of Elarom SES (none vs. 0.2% in all phases) and TBCC (none, 108, or 183 ppm of Cu in phase 3 only). Fecal consistency was determined by visual appraisal of pen floors on d 0, 4,7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 on a scale from 1-5. A score of 1 indicated hard, pellet type feces and a score of 5 indicated watery, liquid feces. Overall, there was no evidence for treatment differences observed for ADG, ADFI, or fecal consistency; however, a tendency for an Elarom SES × TBCC interaction was observed for F/G (quadratic, P = 0.061). This was the result of F/G improving at the intermediate level of TBCC without Elarom SES, yet F/G was improved at the highest level of TBCC when Elarom SES was present. Overall, no consistent benefit was observed from feeding Elarom SES or different levels of TBCC on growth performance or fecal consistency of weaned pigs.


Introduction
Elarom SES is a commercially available feed additive that combines medium chain fatty acids, phenolic compounds, long-chain carbohydrates, and organic acids into a single feed additive. It is suggested to improve gastrointestinal tract health and growth per- formance of pigs. However, Williams et al. 3 (2016) observed that feeding Elarom SES in combination with antimicrobials with or without added ZnO did not consistently improve nursery pig growth performance, and that feeding Elarom SES in combination with antimicrobial and/or ZnO had no effect in comparison to control and dietary treatments that only contained antimicrobials or ZnO. 3 Supplementation of high levels of Cu is a feeding strategy considered in the nursery because of its antimicrobial effects that are potentially similar to that of antibiotics, and the ability of Cu to counter the effects of the post-weaning lag. Tri-basic copper chloride (TBCC, Micronutrients USA, LLC., Indianapolis, IN) is a form of Cu that has the potential for improved bioavailability and enhanced growth performance. Shelton et al. (2011) observed that the supplementation of 150 ppm TBCC during the nursery stage increased ADG and ADFI. 4 Also, Carpenter et al. 5 showed that increasing Cu linearly improved ADG and final BW in nursery pigs. 5 We are not aware of any previous research that describes the interactive effects of Elarom SES and TBCC when included in swine diets. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the growth performance and fecal consistency of nursery pigs fed diets containing Elarom SES with or without TBCC.

Procedures
The Kansas State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approved the protocol for this experiment. The study was conducted at the Kansas State University Segregated Early Weaning Facility in Manhattan, KS.
A total of 360 nursery pigs (DNA 200 × 400; initially 13.2 lb BW) were used in a 42-d study with 5 pigs per pen and 12 replications per treatment. Each pen (4 × 4 ft.) had metal tri-bar flooring, one 4-hole self-feeder, and a cup waterer to provide ad libitum access to feed and water. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21 d of age and allotted to pens based on initial BW in a completely randomized design to 1 of 6 dietary treatments.
The treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with main effects of added Elarom SES (none vs. 0.2% from d 0 to 42) and added Cu from TBCC (none, 108, or 183 ppm Cu from d 21 to 42;). The treatment ingredients were substituted for an equivalent amount of corn in the respective diets to form the experimental treatments (Table 1).
All diets were corn-soybean meal based and were formulated in 3 phases with decreasing nutrient concentration in each phase. Diets were fed in meal form and were pre- Growth data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using the PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC) with pen as the experimental unit. The main effects of Elarom SES and linear and quadratic effects of TBBC, as well as their interactions, were evaluated using preplanned CONTRAST statements. Differences between treatments were determined by using least squares means. A P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant and 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10 was considered marginally significant.

Results and Discussion
Results of the diet analysis closely matched those of formulated levels. Analyzed diets confirmed diets manufactured with no added Cu closely matched formulated values, and phase 3 diets manufactured with added Cu from TBCC increased in a step-wise fashion as expected.
From d 0 to 21, 21 to 42, and overall, there was no evidence for differences in ADG or ADFI observed among pigs fed any of the dietary treatments. A tendency for an Elarom × TBCC interaction (P = 0.061) was observed for F/G ( Table 3). The interaction was a result of F/G improving at the intermediary level of TBCC without Elarom SES; however, F/G was only improved at the highest TBCC concentration when Elarom SES was present. There were no treatment or treatment × day effects observed on fecal consistency, but a day effect was observed (P = 0.001, Table 4) resulting from pigs at d 0 exhibiting firmer stool that transitioned to a softer stool in the subsequent collection days.
In summary, these data suggests that feeding different levels of TBCC with or without the inclusion of Elarom SES has no effect on nursery pig growth performance. The absence of a Cu response in this study is in contrast with previous research that has showed improvements in nursery pig performance to added Cu. Further research should be conducted to improve the understanding of the feeding of Elarom SES with or without TBCC and at what periods of the nursery phase these additives should be fed to improve performance. 15.00 ------Corn DDGS, 6-9% oil 3 5.00 ------HP 300 4 5.