PSIII-23 Effect of feed antioxidants on behavior and stress resistance of fattening pigs

Abstract

Abstract Antioxidants application (selenium, vitamin E and flavonoids) in pig diets provides solving the problem of oxidative stress effects. The research aims to study the efficiency of supplement Taxifolin feeding to reduce the stress effects. Experiments were performed using crossbred [(BWxL)xD] pigs (BW1=34.5–34.9 kg, N=36, n = 9) during the fattening period. Animals were allocated to 4 groups: 1 – control (standard forage – SF, without stress – STR-), 2 – control (SF, STR+), 3 – experimental (SF+0.2 mg kg Se, STR+), 4 – experimental group (SF+32 mg kg TAX, STR+). The animals were kept for 3 heads in a stall and to simulate technological stress, they were rotated within the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th groups every 14 days. The incidence of animal anxiety was directly dependent on the recorded acts of aggression (17%; 29%; 29%; 25% & 8%; 27%; 35%; 30% of the total incidence, according to the experimental groups). In general, for the whole fattening period, the average daily gain increase by 1,6% was recorded in the fourth experimental group compared to the first control group (1012.1±43.5 vs. 996.4±32.8 g, P > 0.5). The Taxifolin effect was manifested as an “adaptive factor” to external stimuli under simulated stress, and contributed to a decrease in cortisol level in the animals’ blood at the end of the experiment (215±53 vs. 309±107, 294±111, 305±61 nmol/l, P > 0.5). At the end of the experiment pigs fed with Taxifolin had the higher lysis rate by 19.2% (42.0±4.8 vs. 22.8±2.5, P < 0.5), the lysozyme content in the blood serum – by 0.35 µg/ml (0.79±0.10 vs. 0.44±0.04 µg/ml, P < 0,5) compared to the control. Consequently, stressors prevention by using natural antioxidants (bioflavonoids) is justified. The work was supported by the grant No. 19-16-00068 of the Russian Science Foundation and GZ АААА-А18-118021590136-7.