PSIII-16 The effect of Activo and a competitor phytogenic on growth performance and carcass characteristics of grow-finish pigs

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding two phytogenics compunds on growth performance and carcass characteristics in grow-finish pigs. Activo is a phytogenic feed additive consisting of a blend of microencapsulated secondary plant compounds used as an alternative to antibniotics to support gut health and overall animal performance. The study was desgined as a split plot design with 2 treatments (Activo and Control) with 44 replicates each and 22 pigs per pen. Pigs were alloted by weight (41.9 kgs in average) and age (about 12 weeks of age). Three dietary feeding phases were used. Grow-finish phase 1 (9-16 weeks post weaning) containing 13.6 g/ton of Skycis plus the tested phytogenics; grow-finish phase 2 had the tested phytogenics and finally gorw-finish phase 3 had 6.75 g/ton of Ractopamine plus the tested phytogenics. There were no siginifcant differences between the two groups on overal growth performance and mortality. Carcass characteristics data was analyzed by combining harvest cuts 1 and 2. Cut 1 was performed 15 days after the supplementation of Ractopamine and cut 2 when the barn was empty. This includes 27 pens for the Activo group and 30 pens for the Control group due to carcass data that was removed or missing. Any pen with a harvest cut missing 3 or more carcasses was removed from the data set. The Acitvo group had heavier (P = 0.03) hot carcass weigh (101.7 vs. 100.3 kgs, respectively) and higher (P = 0.04) carcass yield % (76.3 vs. 75.8%, respectively) when compared to the Control group. There was a tendency for the Activo group to have higher (P = 0.06) Longissimus muscel depth than the Control group. In conclusion, the Activo group appears to be a better alternative to antibiotics than the competitor phytogenic.