The weight of the piglets and the feed intake during the weeks after weaning are key factors in pig production, which may allow to predict the productive efficiency in the fattening period.

The drop in production of piglets at weaning is one of biggest concerns in pig farming. Therefore, it is important to take appropriate measures to promote the consumption of solid feed during lactation and a correct development of the digestive system, to minimize the decrease in productivity of the piglets at weaning.

This trial aimed to evaluate the effects of the combination of intestinal optimizer pronutrients and intestinal conditioner pronutrients in the solid diet of lactating piglets.

Pronutrients are active molecules of plant origin that promote the physiology of their target cell. In the case of intestinal optimizers, they stimulate the activity of the local immune system of the intestine and, in the case of intestinal conditioner pronutrients, they target the enterocytes, improving the structure and integrity of the intestinal mucosa and favoring the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Experimental Design

The trial was carried out with 180 piglets in the lactation phase (0-21 days), which were divided into two groups and received solid feed (pre-starter diet) from the fifth day of life:

• Control group (90 animals): received standard diet.
• Pronutrients group (90 animals): received standard diet and the combination of pronutrients (0.5 kg/t of intestinal optimizers + 0.5 kg/t of intestinal conditioners)

The environmental conditions of the farm during the test were 34-38°C of temperature and 60-85% of relative humidity.

Results

Table 1 shows that weight at birth was very similar between groups, while the difference of weight at the end of lactation (21 days) was very visible: pronutrients group obtained a higher weight (+690 g), 13% higher than the control group (graph 1). The average daily gain (ADG) was 18% higher in the batch that received pronutrients (216 g/day), compared to the control (183 g/day).

The effect of pronutrients also had an impact on mortality during the lactation period, where the group treated with pronutrients showed a reduction of 10.7% compared to the control group.

Conclusions

The combination of intestinal optimizer pronutrients and intestinal conditioner pronutrients in the diet of lactating piglets allowed to improve the weight at weaning (day 21) by 690 grams, increase the daily weight gain by 18% and reduce the mortality by almost 11% compared to the control group.

These results demonstrate the benefit of using intestinal optimizers and intestinal conditioners in the development and functionality of the intestine, which enable piglets to arrive at weaning with greater weight and viability.

In addition, they are a natural solution that do not create resistances and can be applied continuously in feed.

Intestinal conditioner pronutrients are marketed by Biovet S.A. under the name Alquernat Nebsui, and intestinal optimizer pronutrients as Alquernat Zycox.