by
Christian Lückstädt, ADDCON, Germany
Sustaining growth rate and optimal feed efficiency in pigs is key to their economic performance through to market
With mounting pressure on the costs of pig production in general worldwide, nutrition is increasingly under scrutiny. Compound feed is not only an effective way of delivering nutrients to animals, but it has long been utilised as a delivery strategy for non-nutritive additives used to promote health.
For decades the industry relied heavily on antibiotics as growth promoters in
feed, until it became clear that the development of bacterial resistance
against these compounds could jeopardise their future in the fight against
bacterial disease, not only in animals, but also in human health care.
The search for alternatives became critical around 15 years ago, beginning in Europe, but more recently in Asia, including India, Indonesia or Vietnam.
It is generally agreed that good gut health is effective against intestinal pathogens, a strategy that has only become evident through the removal of antibiotic growth promoters in feed. Creating and maintaining a healthy intestinal environment has become essential to productivity and food safety programmes alike.
Maintaining a healthy gut requires up to 25 percent of the daily protein and 20 percent of the dietary energy supplied with the feed, so this strategy should be an integral component of the dietary program, to avoid wasting resources.
In many countries, the use of acidifiers in diets for pigs at all stages has already proved itself an effective tool for achieving and maintaining gut health, for instance through the efficient utilisation of dietary nutrients for productivity and health.
This has been demonstrated in university studies and under commercial conditions. Organic acids, their salts and mixtures of these are authorised for use as feed preservatives and as zoo technical feed additives, both in Europe and elsewhere.
Of the non-antibiotic growth promoters, organic acids are among the most reliable and can be used safely with other additives.
Papatsiros and Billinis (2012) reported “…Dietary acidifiers can actually become the most common and efficacious alternative solution to antibiotics, in order to improve health status and performance in pigs.”
The mode of action of organic acids and their salts has been described extensively in the literature (as summarised by Freitag, 2007; Metzler and Mosenthin, 2007). However, the magnitude of the effect on performance has not always been consistent. The reason for this is likely to lie in the variability of pig production conditions, including environmental factors, feed formulation and management.
While biosecurity and hygiene in the feed mill and on farm are essential, the acidification of feed ingredients or finished feeds with organic acids also offers considerable benefits in the control of pathogenic bacteria.
Feed acidification is not only effective within the feed, as reviewed by Stonerock (2007), its biggest benefit may occur within the pig itself – in achieving a healthy gut!
Sustaining growth rate and optimal feed efficiency in pigs is key to their economic performance through to market
With mounting pressure on the costs of pig production in general worldwide, nutrition is increasingly under scrutiny. Compound feed is not only an effective way of delivering nutrients to animals, but it has long been utilised as a delivery strategy for non-nutritive additives used to promote health.
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| Image credit: Dan Belanescu on Flickr (CC BY 2.0) |
The search for alternatives became critical around 15 years ago, beginning in Europe, but more recently in Asia, including India, Indonesia or Vietnam.
It is generally agreed that good gut health is effective against intestinal pathogens, a strategy that has only become evident through the removal of antibiotic growth promoters in feed. Creating and maintaining a healthy intestinal environment has become essential to productivity and food safety programmes alike.
Maintaining a healthy gut requires up to 25 percent of the daily protein and 20 percent of the dietary energy supplied with the feed, so this strategy should be an integral component of the dietary program, to avoid wasting resources.
In many countries, the use of acidifiers in diets for pigs at all stages has already proved itself an effective tool for achieving and maintaining gut health, for instance through the efficient utilisation of dietary nutrients for productivity and health.
This has been demonstrated in university studies and under commercial conditions. Organic acids, their salts and mixtures of these are authorised for use as feed preservatives and as zoo technical feed additives, both in Europe and elsewhere.
Of the non-antibiotic growth promoters, organic acids are among the most reliable and can be used safely with other additives.
Papatsiros and Billinis (2012) reported “…Dietary acidifiers can actually become the most common and efficacious alternative solution to antibiotics, in order to improve health status and performance in pigs.”
The mode of action of organic acids and their salts has been described extensively in the literature (as summarised by Freitag, 2007; Metzler and Mosenthin, 2007). However, the magnitude of the effect on performance has not always been consistent. The reason for this is likely to lie in the variability of pig production conditions, including environmental factors, feed formulation and management.
While biosecurity and hygiene in the feed mill and on farm are essential, the acidification of feed ingredients or finished feeds with organic acids also offers considerable benefits in the control of pathogenic bacteria.
Feed acidification is not only effective within the feed, as reviewed by Stonerock (2007), its biggest benefit may occur within the pig itself – in achieving a healthy gut!
For references, tables, and to read the full article click,
HERE.
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