Supplementation of piglets with nutrient-dense complex milk replacer improves intestinal development and microbial fermentation.

Weaning of piglets causes stress due to environmental, behavioral, and nutritional stressors and can lead to postweaning diarrhea and impaired gut development. The diet changes experienced during weaning require extensive adaptation of the digestive system. A well-developed piglet that had creep-feed experience before weaning performs better after weaning. In the current study, the effect of providing sow-fed piglets with a supplemental nutrient-dense complex milk replacer (NDM) on gut development and growth performance was studied. Litters of sows with similar parities (3.6 ± 0.8) and similar numbers of live born piglets (13.5 ± 0.3) were assigned to 1 of 2 groups: 1 group of piglets had ad libitum access to NDM from Day 2 through 21 after birth, whereas the other group was used as controls. Nutrient-dense complex milk replacer-fed piglets were shown to be significantly heavier after 21 d of supplementation compared with the control piglets. At Day 21, 3 piglets from each litter were euthanized for morphological and functional analyses of the intestinal tract. The small intestines of NDM-fed piglets had significantly higher weights (g) as well as significantly higher relative weight:length ratios (g//cm) compared with the small intestines of control piglets ( < 0.05). Morphometric analysis demonstrated that villi length and numbers of goblet cells did not differ between groups. However, NDM-fed piglets had deeper crypts ( < 0.001) and an increased expression of the cell-proliferation marker proliferating cell nuclear antigen in crypts ( < 0.05), suggesting higher cell-proliferation rates. The gene encoding IGF-1 showed a tendency to higher gene expression in the jejunum from NDM-fed piglets ( = 0.07) compared with the jejunum from control piglets, suggesting that IGF-1 might be involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and intestinal growth. Finally, as a result of dietary fiber in NDM, piglets showed significantly increased concentrations of metabolic fermentation products. This suggests differences in metabolic activity in the colon between treatment groups. In conclusion, providing sow-fed piglets with NDM before weaning stimulates intestinal proliferation, leading to increased circular growth. Nutrient-dense complex milk replacer supplementation might, therefore, help piglets through the transition period at weaning by increased BW and increased capacity for uptake of nutrients.

Health and growth of veal calves fed milk replacers with or without probiotics.

Four experiments with 1-wk-old veal calves were conducted to assess the influence of probiotics on growth and health indicators. In experiments 1 and 2, the liquid probiotic supplements were administered daily from experimental d 1 to 15. The treatment period in experiments 3 and 4 was extended to 56 d. The probiotics used were a multispecies probiotic (MSPB) containing different probiotic species of human origin, or a calf-specific probiotic (CSPB) containing 6 Lactobacillus species isolated from calf feces and selected on the basis of a combination of characteristics. When the data for the 4 experiments were pooled, the probiotics enhanced growth rate during the first 2 wk. During the 8-wk experimental period, average daily gain and feed efficiency were significantly improved in the probiotic-treated groups. The MSPB-induced increase in weight gain was greater when the control calves were considered less healthy based on a health score (an index of diarrhea and therapeutic treatments). Probiotic treatment tended to diminish mortality. The CSPB treatment reduced the incidence of diarrhea and the fecal counts of coliforms. When therapeutic treatment was intensive in the control calves, the ingestion of probiotics reduced the percentage of calves that required therapy and the amount of treatments needed against digestive or respiratory diseases. There was no clear difference in the efficiency of the MSPB and CSPB preparations. Further research is necessary to identify underlying mechanisms and to evaluate the potential of probiotics to improve respiratory health in veal calf production.

The effect of a mixture of dairy-based feed ingredients, vegetable fats, and yeast cell walls on performance and innate immunity of weaned piglets.

Positive effects of yeast concentrate on immunity and performance of weaned piglets have been reported. However, the effects on innate immunity were not examined. Natural antibodies (NAb) are part of innate immunity and have been related to health and survival in fish, poultry, rodents, and man. Yeast cell walls may also affect innate immunity of weaned piglets. We studied the effect of Nuklospray ProHealth containing a spray dried blend of dairy-based feed ingredients, vegetable fats, and processed yeast cell walls as protein source on NAb levels and performance of weaned piglets. A total of 120 piglets weaned at 28 d of age were assigned 2 treatments comprising a control diet and an experimental diet with the test product. Piglets were housed in groups of 6 during the first 4 weeks after weaning. Blood samples of 20 healthy nonmedicated piglets per treatment were taken at days 0, 14, and 28 after weaning and analyzed for NAb levels binding keyhole limpet hemocyanin by an indirect ELISA procedure. Performance parameters also were determined. Overall, the experimental diet tended to improve feed intake (574 vs. 522 g/d; P < 0.1), ADG (449 vs. 412 g/d; P < 0.1), and final BW (21.4 vs. 20.3 kg; P = 0.08) compared to the control diet. No differences were found in feed conversion ratio or fecal score. At day 0, no differences in NAb levels were found, but on day 14 after weaning, NAb levels of piglets fed the experimental diet were significantly higher than of piglets fed the control diet (2.05 vs. 1.70; P < 0.05). On day 28 after weaning no differences were found. These results indicate that day 14 postweaning levels of NAb as a parameter of innate immunity were improved and indicate a tendency for improvement of postweaning performance of piglets fed diets supplemented with Nuklospray ProHealth.