Effects of functional additives on production and economic performance of heavy and light bodyweights of nursery piglets

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of seven different types of additives on the production performance and economic benefits of piglets at the nursery stage. A total of 2806 piglets, at ~21 days of age, were selected and divided into a high-bodyweight (H) group (> 6.5 kg) and a lowbodyweight (L) group (<6.0 kg) based on the weaned bodyweight (BW). Each group was further subdivided into seven additive groups and a control group. The control group was provided with basal diet, while the additive groups received the corresponding functional additives for either 15 or 30 d. Data collection continued until the end of the nursery stage (on the 45th day of the trial, at 70 d of age). Any single additive did not substantially improve the gained BW in nursery piglets. Overall, sex did not result in any BW differences at any time points. Supplementing feed with additives for 30 d led to better results in terms of production performance and economics for both H and L groups compared to 15 d, particularly with the fermented traditional Chinese medicine (additive VI). In comparison to the control group, the beneficial differences in the H group was more than double that observed in the L group. In summary, supplementing with functional additives for 30 d has potential to improve the production performance and economic benefits of nursery piglets, especially high-bodyweight piglets.