401 Gut microbiome, health, and growth performance in pigs

Abstract

Abstract As pigs grow, their intestinal microbiome evolves until establishing a stable rich and diverse microbial population (climax community) to maintain the health and growth performance. This evolution (microbial succession) is in fact a multifactorial phenomenon involving environmental parameters (farm practice measures, heard health status, drug use), host (genetics, immune system, biomarkers), sow (milk, colostrum, vaginal, and rectal microbiome) and nutrition. The multifactorial nature of microbial succession and the consequence disruption results in a considerable variation in the pig gut mirobiome at the individual and herd level. This needs to be taken into account when exploring the core bacterial population associated with health and growth performance in pigs under commercial farming conditions.