Abstract
Effect of Calcium Carbonate Level with or without Benzoic Acid on Weanling Pig Growth Performance, Fecal Dry Matter, and Blood Calcium and Phosphorus Concentrations
Highlights
Calcium carbonate is the main form of Ca in pig diets and has cationic properties that would increase the pH in the pig’s stomach
A total of 360 barrows (DNA Line 200 × 400; initially 13.6 ± 0.07 lb) were used in a 38-d study to evaluate the interactive effects of added dietary calcium carbonate and benzoic acid on nursery pig growth performance, fecal dry matter, and blood Ca and P concentration
There were no calcium carbonate × benzoic acid interactions observed for any response criteria (P > 0.10)
Summary
Calcium carbonate is the main form of Ca in pig diets and has cationic properties that would increase the pH in the pig’s stomach. A low stomach pH (< 4) improves protein digestion and intestinal health, whereas a high gastric pH has been observed to result in negative gastrointestinal challenges, including increased intestinal microflora.[2] Organic acids can decrease gastric pH and improve protein digestion. Benzoic acid has been shown to decrease the gastric population of lactic acid bacteria and cecal bacteria while improving ileal digestibility and growth performance.[3] Recent studies have shown that decreasing calcium carbonate levels for the first 21 days post-weaning improved growth performance. It is hypothesized that decreasing the diet ABC by decreasing calcium carbonate levels or adding an organic acid to lower the diet ABC would improve growth performance of nursery pigs. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of added calcium carbonate with or without benzoic acid on the growth performance, fecal dry matter, and blood Ca and P concentrations of nursery pigs
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