Abstract
Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of dietary iron (Fe) source and concentration on nursery pig performance and blood hemoglobin concentrations. A total of 960 newly weaned, mixed sex pigs (5.7 ± 0.40 kg BW) were allotted to 4 dietary treatments using a complete randomized design (24 pens/treatment, 10 pigs/pen). All pigs were fed a 3-phase corn-soybean meal-based diet. The 4 diets were: 1) 100 ppm Fe from iron sulfate; 2) 100 ppm Fe from an iron-amino acid complex (Fe-AA; ProPath Fe 150), 3) 50 ppm Fe from Fe-AA and 4) 25 ppm Fe from Fe-AA. Pigs were weighed on day 0, 7, 21 and 42, and feed disappearance measured to calculate ADG, ADFI and G:F within phase and overall. Blood hemoglobin was assessed on d 0, 21 and 35. Pen was considered the experimental unit and all data were analyzed using the mixed procedure of SAS with treatment as a fixed effect. Iron treatment did not alter pig performance (ADG, ADFI and G:F) in phase 1, 2 or 3 (P > 0.05). Overall, ADG was similar between treatments (0.46, 0.45, 0.45 and 0.44 kg/d, respectively, P > 0.05). Similarly, overall ADFI was similar between treatments (0.61, 0.60, 0.58 and 0.62 kg/d, respectively, P = 0.31). Overall 42-day G:F did not differ between treatments (P > 0.05). Blood hemoglobin concentrations (g/dL) showed a quadratic response over day post-weaning (P < 0.001); however, no treatment or treatment by day interaction were reported (P > 0.05). Altogether, these data demonstrate that feeding 25-100 ppm of Fe-AA provided similar performance to 100 ppm Fe from an inorganic source. Additionally, pigs did not have altered hemoglobin levels or become Fe deficient when diets were supplemented with Fe-AA at levels below NRC requirement.
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