Effect of Bacteriophage Supplementation on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics, and Fecal Microbial Shedding in Growing Pigs

A total of 144 ((Duroc×Yorkshire)×Landrace)) pigs with an average initial BW of 28.85±0.63 kg were used in this 6-wk growth trial. Pigs were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatments in a completely random block design. Each dietary treatment consisted of 9 replicate pens, with 4 pigs per replicate. Di...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: L. Yan, S. M. Hong, I. H. Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies 2012-10-01
Series:Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ajas.info/upload/pdf/25-188.pdf
Description
Summary:A total of 144 ((Duroc×Yorkshire)×Landrace)) pigs with an average initial BW of 28.85±0.63 kg were used in this 6-wk growth trial. Pigs were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatments in a completely random block design. Each dietary treatment consisted of 9 replicate pens, with 4 pigs per replicate. Dietary treatments included: i) NC (basal diet), ii) PC (NC+apramycin 0.5 g/kg), iii) BPT1 (NC+bacteriophage 0.25 g/kg) and iv) BPT2 (NC+bacteriophage 0.5 g/kg). The inclusion of antibiotics and bacteriophages did not affect the (p>0.05) ADG, ADFI and G:F compared with the basal diet. Dietary antibiotics and bacteriophages supplementation led to a higher (p<0.05) DM digestibility than the NC treatment. Pigs fed the bacteriophage supplemented diet increased (p<0.05) the N digestibility compared with those fed NC treatment. Supplementation of antibiotics led to a higher (p<0.05) energy digestibility than the NC treatment. No difference (p>0.05) was observed in the RBC, WBC, lymphocyte concentration and fecal moisture among treatments. Pigs fed PC and BPT2 treatments reduced (p<0.05) the E. coli concentration compared with those fed NC treatment. The inclusion of BPT2 treatment led to a higher (p<0.05) lactobacillus concentration compared with NC and PC treatment. Dietary antibiotic and bacteriophage supplementation reduced (p<0.05) the Salmonella concentration compared with NC treatment. In conclusion, our study suggested that bacteriophage at the level of 0.5 g/kg could be used as an antibiotics alternative for growing pigs.
ISSN:1011-2367
1976-5517