242 Evaluation of a DFM and OA, Alone or in Combination, on Sow Offspring’s Nursery Growth Performance

Abstract

Abstract Progeny from sows fed diets containing a Bacillus licheniformis direct-fed microbial (DFM), an organic acid blend of medium and short chain fatty acids (OA), DFM+OA, or a control (CON) diet from d80 of gestation until weaning were used to determine if feeding CON, DFM, OA, or DFM+OA to the dam and/or progeny post-weaning improved nursery growth performance. Weaned pigs from 47 dams (n = 384, Initial BW=6.15 kg) were blocked by initial BW and sex and allotted (6 pigs/pen, 8 pens/treatment) to one of 8 nursery treatments. Pigs from CON sows were fed a negative (NC; no antibiotics, pharmacological Zn or Cu) or positive [PC; Neo-Terramycin phases 1 and 2 (827 and 551 ppm) and Carbadox phase 3 (55 ppm)] control diet. Pigs from sows fed DFM, OA, or DFM+OA were fed the NC diet or a diet representative of their dam. Diets with DFM contained 1.6x109 CFU/kg DFM and diets with OA contained 0.5, 0.4, and 0.3% OA in phases 1–3, respectively. Weaning weight was used as a covariate for nursery performance. For all phases and overall, PC fed pigs had greater ADG, ADFI, and G:F (P < 0.05). Feeding DFM or OA in sow diets improved (interaction; P< 0.042) nursery pig G:F, but DFM+OA offspring had no improvement for d7–14, 0–14, and 0–21 G:F. Feeding DFM or OA to sows and their progeny decreased ADFI (interaction; P < 0.042) but improved G:F (interaction; P < 0.028) for d7–14 and 0–14 with DFM+OA having no improvement above CON. For d14–21 and 0–21, feeding DFM or OA to sows and their progeny decreased ADFI whereas DFM+OA increased ADFI above CON (interaction; P < 0.019). In conclusion, feeding DFM or OA to sows or their offspring may improve nursery feed efficiency and feeding DFM+OA diet to sows and their progeny may increase ADFI late in the nursery period.