If you want to be a profitable pork producer, it starts with healthy pigs. The importance of minimizing stress cannot be overemphasized, explained Mike Tokach, professor at Kansas State University, during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting.
“Stress causes the cascade of immunological events that leads to a leaky, permeable gut and diarrhea. Minimizing pathogenic exposure is one of the main ways to reduce stress. Pathogens cannot always be avoided; however, producers do have control over the environment and environmental stressors that the pig faces,” Tokach says.
Stresses, such as dirty environment, cold or hot temperatures, poor ventilation, out-of-feed events, and water quality or water access issues will all contribute to increased diarrhea in the barn.
Reduce Environmental Stress on Pigs
Because stressors are additive in nature, the K-State Applied Swine Nutrition Team reminds producers to make sure pigs have the best possible environment at weaning.
Here are six reminders when it comes to providing a good environment for the pig.
• Having hot-water-washed and disinfected facilities.
• Ensuring feeders and waterers have disinfectants removed after thorough cleaning between groups
• Warming room to proper temperature before placing pigs, feeding creep feed and mixing pigs in farrowing house prior to weaning to reduce mixing stress at weaning and to teach feeding behavior.
• Eliminating drafts while maintaining correct air flow and quality.
• Providing feed and water after weaning with adequate feeder and drinkers for all pigs.
In addition, Tokach suggests weaning pigs as old as possible within the constraints of the production system and consider adding farrowing capacity. Incorporate genetics that handle gut stressors without high mortality. Strive to immunity through adequate colostrum intake and appropriate vaccination.
Nutrition Strategies to Maximize Pig Health
Diet formulation is another important tool to maximize pig health and improve gut bacteria. By minimizing the amount of simple sugars that reach large intestine, minimizing excess nitrogen in the diet, and reducing the buffering capacity of the diet (especially with young pigs) to decrease pathogenic bacterial growth, producers can help maximize livability.
K-State offers four dietary strategies to consider:
1. Protein and amino acid management
Dietary crude protein content should be reduced as much as possible, to the level that does not compromise least cost and performance. Diets immediately after weaning are often fed below the pig’s lysine requirement to reduce challenge. As long as the pig is fed adequate amino acids in the late nursery and the period of deficiency is not excess, pigs will compensate for this short-term deficiency with similar overall performance. Highly digestible protein sources in the diet immediately after weaning also allow requirements to be met with lower crude protein levels. The result of lower dietary crude protein levels is ultimately a reduction in diarrhea.
2. Carbohydrate management
Carbohydrate management changes as the pig grows. Immediately after weaning, coarse ground wheat bran, oat hulls, barley hulls, lignocellulose or other sources of insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) are often included in the diet. This decreases digesta retention time by increasing passage rate, reducing non-digested material accumulation, and reducing E. coli proliferation and colonization. Grains can be ground coarser than typical to aid in this flushing of the bacteria and to encourage consumption.
At approximately 10 to 14 days after weaning after pigs are adjusted to feed, the insoluble NSP should be removed from the diet and soluble fiber becomes more beneficial. Tokach says soluble fiber sources are more fermentable thus encouraging the production of volatile fatty acids that can be used as an energy source for liver cells, and muscle cells. The volatile fatty acids are absorbed in the colon, and water and sodium are also absorbed reducing diarrhea. The production of volatile fatty acids also decreases gut pH, which promotes growth of beneficial bacteria and decreases pathogenic bacteria.
“When included in the diet, fiber sources should be used at low levels. Fiber lowers the dietary energy available to the pig and although volatile fatty acids can be used by the pig, they don’t contribute greatly to the energy needs of a young pig,” he says. Fiber inclusion is particularly beneficial when high levels of zinc oxide cannot be included.
3. Mineral management
The calcium level of the diet immediately after weaning should be reduced to be near the pig’s minimum requirement to reduce buffering capacity in the stomach and ensure optimal enzyme activity, Tokach explains.
“Care should be taken to account for all calcium that may be included in nursery diets through feed additives. Many feed additives and premixes use calcium carbonate as a carrier because of the low cost and flow characteristics. Calcium levels in the final diet can often be much greater than thought because of calcium in feed additives not being accounted for in diet formulation,” he says.
Pharmacological levels of zinc oxide can provide several beneficial effects on protecting the immature gut. When high levels of zinc oxide cannot be included in the diet because of regulatory requirements, which is the situation in several countries, growth promoting levels of copper should be considered, Tokach adds.
4. Other factors
K-State says high levels of vitamin E (150 to 200 IU) or the use of other antioxidants have been shown to enhance immunity in some studies and should be considered in the diet immediately after weaning. In addition, additives that reduce inflammation and improve immune function should be considered; however, feed additives should always be reviewed for their beneficial effects before inclusion in the diet.
“Maximizing livability of young pigs requires a multi-faceted approach to protect the intestine of the pig and prevent diarrhea. Several dietary components need to be considered including the minimizing the excess nitrogen in the diet; managing dietary fiber as the pig transitions through weaning; and reducing gut pH through inclusion of appropriate acidifiers and managing the buffering capacity of the diet,” Tokach says. “The importance of the role of management also cannot be over-emphasized.”
The K-State Applied Swine Nutrition team that contributed to his presentation also include Jordan Gebhardt, Jason Woodworth, Joel DeRouchey and Bob Goodband.
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