Weaning is a critical period of the swine cycle. The transition from sows’ milk, which is highly digestible, to solid feed with a new composition, drives an adaptative process in the digestive system of the piglets. The stomach needs, at least, 4 weeks to adapt and regulate the hydrochloric acid production to the new diet.  Adaptation is also needed in the intestinal epithelium, the digestive enzymes, and the gut microbiota.

While this process occurs, the digestibility and absorption of nutrients are reduced. The presence of un-digested and un-absorbed nutrients in the intestinal system may promote bacterial overgrowth and induce a microbial imbalance. Diarrhea is one of the most common signs of intestinal imbalance and can negatively affect the health and productive parameters of pigs. Furthermore, pathogenic bacteria present in feed can enter the gastrointestinal tract and cause disease.

Cimenol ring, a natural compound of plant origin that acts as a gut microbicide, is intended to reduce the negative effects of the feed transition, microbial overgrowth and diarrhea outbreaks in the postweaning period.

Aim of the Trial

To evaluate the use of cimenol ring in weaned pigs on the productive performance, diarrhea rate and the assessment of gut microbiota.

Experimental design

60 weaned piglets were evaluated for 30 days (from 30 to 60-day-old pigs) and fed with 2 different diets: standard diet for one group and standard diet with 1 kg/t of cimenol ring for the other group.

Parameters evaluated included: productive parameters, diarrhea rate and the assessment of gut microbiota.

Results

Both groups started with similar weight at day 30 (graph 1) and the cimenol group showed a significatively better weight (+6%) at day 45 and day 60 compared to the control group. Weights at day 60 were of 20.28 kg and 21.5 kg for the control and cimenol group, respectively.

The higher weight per each evaluation also reflects a significatively superior daily weight gain (DWG) of the cimenol group (441g/day) regarding control group (396 g/day), of 11% difference on average for the whole trial period.

Average daily feed intake (ADFI) was higher throughout the trial in the cimenol ring group (762.37 g/day) compared to the control (728.54 g/day). In this case, the higher feed intake was translated to higher weight gain, which meant the cimenol group achieved the best feed conversion rate (FCR), as per shown in graph 2.

Diarrhea rate was significatively reduced with the use of cimenol ring, over 50%, compared to the control group (graph 3).

In addition, the assessment of the gut microbiota revealed that the cimenol group showed higher relative expression of Lactobacillus, while reduced the expression of E. coli, compared to the control group (graph 4).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be observed that the cimenol group achieved the best weight (+1.22 kg) and best feed conversion (-0.04 pts.), while diarrhea rate was decreased by half in the cimenol group.

Feed intake was increased in the cimenol group, which is a positive factor: a higher feed intake during the postweaning period is linked to a better development of the digestive system and a better digestive health.

Furthermore, the relative expression of the gut microbiota revealed that the cimenol ring promotes the growth of beneficial microorganisms in front of potentially pathogenic bacteria.

The cimenol ring had demonstrated to be a beneficial additive for weaned pigs.

The cimenol ring additive used in this trial is a product developed by Biovet S.A. and marketed under the name of Alquermold Natural.