Effects of probiotics on growth performance, blood parameters, and antibody stimulation in piglets

O A Aiyegoro,Z.C Dlamini,A.I Okoh,R.L.S Langa

doi:10.4314/sajas.v47i6.4

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of probiotic bacteria ( Lactobacillus reuteri ZJ625, Lactobacillus reuteri VB4, Lactobacillus salivarius ZJ614, and Streptococcus salivarius NBRC13956) administered as direct-fed microorganisms on growth performance and blood parameters of weaned piglets. Forty-five weaned piglets were divided into five treatments: antibiotic (PC), no antibiotic and no probiotic (NC), probiotic (P1), probiotic (P2), and combination of probiotics (P3). Fecal and ileum samples were collected for microbial count analysis. Blood samples were also collected from the animals at the end of the trial for the hematological and biochemical analysis and the ability of the probiotics to stimulate immunoglobulin G (IgG). Supplementation of probiotics had no effect on feed intake (FI). However, average daily weight gained (ADG) in the P3 treatment was higher than in other treatments and lowered the value of feed conversion ratio (FCR) of weaned piglets. Microbial count of fecal samples did not differ in all the treatments while ileum samples had lower enteric bacteria in P3 treatment when compared to other treatments. Concentration of albumin, globulin, neutrophils and basophils were higher in the NC treatment when compared to other treatment groups. The IgG concentration was highest in P3 compared to other treatments. Results suggested that probiotics have beneficial effects on growth performances, blood parameters, and IgG stimulation of weaned piglets. This advocates that probiotics will offer a significant benefit in pig farming by reducing the risk of post weaning diarrheal syndromes, and therefore enhance pig industry’s economy. Keywords : Blood chemistry, feed conversion ratio, immunoglobulin G, post-weaning diarrheal syndromes, probiotics

Highlights

Weaning transition is a complicated phase in pig production because piglets are weaned from the ages of three to four weeks old (Moeser et al, 2007)
This can result in mortality in some cases (Hacin et al, 2008). This transition period is frequently linked with high occurrence of Post-Weaning Diarrheal Syndromes (PWDS), which is triggered by potential enteric pathogens such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) (Rist et al, 2013)
Once PWDS outbreaks occur in farms, the morbidity may be over 50% among the weaned piglets (Laine et al, 2008) and this eventually results in huge economic losses in the pig industry (Kiers et al, 2003)

Summary

Introduction

Weaning transition is a complicated phase in pig production because piglets are weaned from the ages of three to four weeks old (Moeser et al, 2007). Weaning is a very critical period in pig production, as it may result in digestive disturbance, which causes growth set-back, and low feed intake in piglets. This can result in mortality in some cases (Hacin et al, 2008). This transition period is frequently linked with high occurrence of Post-Weaning Diarrheal Syndromes (PWDS), which is triggered by potential enteric pathogens such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) (Rist et al, 2013). Once PWDS outbreaks occur in farms, the morbidity may be over 50% among the weaned piglets (Laine et al, 2008) and this eventually results in huge economic losses in the pig industry (Kiers et al, 2003)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion