Abstract
The transition from breast milk to solid feed is a dramatic change in the nutrition of piglets, frequently necessitating antibiotic treatment. In efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics, dietetic concepts based on natural feed additives are becoming more and more important. In the present study, experiments were carried out with 15 rearing piglets (days 28–56) divided into three groups that were offered different diets (Ctr [0% peat]; H1.5 [1.5% peat]; and H3.0 [3.0% peat] based on a commercial weaner recipe; all ~178 g CP, 13.7 MJ ME, 13.3 g Lys, as-fed). The contents of cecal and colon digesta were removed at necropsy. The gas formation (4 h) in colon digesta was measured using in vitro batch fermenters. For microbiome studies, 16S rRNA amplification was performed within the hypervariable region V 4 and sequenced with Illumina MiSeq platform. DNA read mapping and statistical analysis were performed using QIIME (version 1.8.0), MicrobiomeAnalyst, RStudio, and SAS Enterprise Guide. The mean body weight of the animals at the end of the trial did not show statistical differences (in kg: Ctr: 26.1 ± 4.85, H1.5: 28.5 ± 3.41, H3.0: 26.2 ± 4.92). The daily weight gains were high for this age (in g/day; Ctr: 607 ± 157; H1.5: 692 ± 101; H3.0: 615 ± 113) and the feed to gain ratio low (in kg/kg; Ctr: 1.538; H1.5: 1.462; H3.0: 1.462). Concentrations of short-chain fatty acids in the cecal content were significantly lower when peat was used (mmol/kg wet weight; Ctr: 173 ± 30.0; H1.5:134 ± 15.0; H3.0:133 ± 17.3). Numerical differences were found in the gas formation (in mL gas per 10 mL batch in 4 h; Ctr: 7.9 ± 2.2; H1.5: 7.4 ± 2.4; H3.0: 6.6 ± 1.1). The microbiome analyses in the cecal content showed significantly higher values for alpha diversity Chao 1 index for samples from the control group. Significant differences were found for bacterial relative abundance for Tenericutes at phylum level and Mollicutes at class level (p < 0.05) in cecal microbiota. Therefore, there was initial evidence that peat influences intestinal microflora causing a shift in the overall concentration of fermentation products in both, the cecal and the colon content.
Highlights
Weaning imposes tremendous stress on piglets [1, 2]
The results indicate that dietary supplementation with sodium humate + ZnO affects the microbial composition of feces while maintaining good health condition and growth performance in ETEC-infected weaned pigs [19]
contained zero percent peat (Ctr) [0% peat], H1.5 [1.5% peat], and H3.0 [3.0% peat]; additives [per kg as fed]; nutritional additives: vitamin A (10,000 IU), vitamin D/vitamin D3 (2,000 IU), vitamin E (80 mg), iron from iron-(II)-sulfate monohydrate (100 mg), copper from copper-(II)-sulfate pentahydrate (160 mg), manganese from manganese-(II)-sulfate (80 mg), zinc from zinc sulfate monohydrate (100 mg), iodine from calcium iodate anhydrous (2.0 mg), selenium from sodium selenite (0.35 mg); zootechnical additives: 6-phytase EC 3.1.3.26 (1,000 phytase activity units [FTU]), endo-1,4-beta-xylanase EC 3.2.1.8 (200 FYT), benzoic acid (5000 mg); technological additives: formic acid, calcium formate, montmorillonite (1,000 mg). aH1.5 was a mixture of 50% Ctr and 50% H3.0 diet bThe humic acid analysis was carried out only in the H3.0 diet
Summary
Weaning imposes tremendous stress on piglets [1, 2]. The piglets have to cope with the sudden withdrawal of sow milk and adapt to less digestible, plant-based dry diets containing complex protein, and carbohydrate including various anti-nutritional factors [1]. Marked changes in fermentation activities and microbial ecology may occur when altering the diet [2]. Access of pathogens to the disturbed ecosystem is alleviated [2]. The period following weaning can be characterized by a high incidence of intestinal disturbances with diarrhea and depression of growth performance in piglets [1, 2], causing significant economic losses in pig farming [3]. Extensive research on the specific use of feed ingredients and feed additives has been undertaken to reduce the industry’s dependence on current antimicrobial compounds for controlling problems associated with the weaning transition without using antimicrobial compounds [1, 4,5,6]
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