Effects of Zinc Source and Level in Low ABC-4 Diets on Nursery Pig Growth Performance and Fecal Characteristics

Authors

Jonathan Riedmüller, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Freie Universität, Berlin
Jamil E. G. Faccin, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Alessandra R. Monteiro, Animine Precision Minerals, Annecy, France
Jürgen Zentek, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Freie Universität, Berlin
Joel M. DeRouchey, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Jordan T. Gebhardt, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Robert D. Goodband, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Jason C. Woodworth, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow
Mike D. Tokach, Kansas State University, ManhattanFollow

Keywords

ABC-4, crude protein, nursery, swine, zinc oxide

Abstract

A total of 360 weanling barrows (DNA 200 × 400; initially 13.0 ± 0.07 lb) were used in a 38-d study to evaluate the effects of diets containing different levels of a novel Zn source (HiZox, Animine Precision Minerals, Annecy, France) and different levels of crude protein (CP) in low acid-binding capacity at pH 4 (ABC-4) diets on growth performance and fecal characteristics. Pigs were randomly assigned to pens (5 pigs per pen) and pens were assigned to 1 of 6 treatments with 12 pens per treatment. Diets were fed in 3 phases: phase 1 from d 0 to 10, phase 2 from d 11 to 24, and phase 3 from d 25 to 38. All diets were formulated to have low ABC-4. Treatment 1, the negative control (NC), was formulated to contain 150 ppm of Zn (HiZox) throughout the experiment (d 0 to 38). Treatment 2, the positive control (PC), was formulated to contain 3,000 ppm (phase 1) and 2,000 ppm (phase 2) of Zn (ZnO). Treatment 3 (low HiZox) contained 500 ppm (phase 1) and 300 ppm (phase 2) of Zn. Treatment 4 (low HiZox + low CP) was formulated similar to treatment 3 but contained lower CP (19.3% CP) than the NC, PC, low, and high HiZox treatments (21.3% CP). Treatment 5 (high HiZox) contained 800 ppm (phase 1) and 500 ppm (phase 2) of Zn. Treatment 6 (high HiZox + low CP) was formulated to be similar to treatment 5 but contained less CP (19.3% CP). In phase 3, all pigs were fed a common diet containing 150 ppm of Zn (HiZox) and 21.3% CP. For the experimental period (d 0 to 24), pigs fed high HiZox + low CP had poorer F/G (P<0.05) than NC, PC, low HiZox, and high HiZox. In addition, ADG (quadratic,P= 0.007) and ADFI (quadratic,P= 0.018) increased as HiZox increased, and pigs fed diets with low CP were less feed efficient (P= 0.043) than those fed the same levels of HiZox but with high CP. Overall, pigs fed low CP diets had poorer F/G (P= 0.041) than pigs fed similar levels of HiZox with high CP. For fecal characteristics, pigs fed low CP had higher (P= 0.008) dry matter (DM) and an interaction between day and CP (P= 0.040) was detected for fecal scores with low CP diets improving stool consistency to a greater extent on d 10 than on d 23. In summary, increasing levels of HiZox improved performance of nursery pigs during phases 1 and 2, and pigs fed a regimen of 800 and 500 ppm of HiZox in the first 2 phases in low ABC-4 diets had similar performance to pigs fed pharmacological levels of Zn from ZnO in the overall period. Finally, pigs fed low CP diets had improved fecal characteristics, but poorer F/G throughout the nursery period.

Recommended Citation

Riedmüller, Jonathan; Faccin, Jamil E. G.; Monteiro, Alessandra R.; Zentek, Jürgen; DeRouchey, Joel M.; Gebhardt, Jordan T.; Goodband, Robert D.; Woodworth, Jason C.; and Tokach, Mike D. (2023) "Effects of Zinc Source and Level in Low ABC-4 Diets on Nursery Pig Growth Performance and Fecal Characteristics," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: Vol. 9: Iss. 7. https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.8508