Coccidiosis in newborn piglets is a highly prevalent disease and has great importance in intensive breeding of pigs, due to its negative effects on growth and development of piglets.

This enteric parasitic disease is produced by Isospora suis and is characterized by the destruction of infected enterocytes, with the consequent appearance of yellowish or grayish aqueous diarrhea, decreasing nutrient absorption and piglet growth.

Intestinal optimizer pronutrients are active molecules of botanical origin that stimulate the local immune system of the piglet´s intestine. This way, the piglet can break the biological cycle of the parasite, avoiding multiplication and damage in the gut.

1. Objective

Evaluate the effect of intestinal optimizer pronutrients on the prevention of coccidiosis in newborn piglets.

2. Material and methods

The productive performance of 70 one-day-old piglets was evaluated during the first 21 days of life. The animals were divided into the following experimental groups:

• Control group: standard basal diet (33 piglets).
• Experimental group: standard basal diet + intestinal optimizer pronutrients at a dose of 1 ml/piglet at day 2 of life (37 piglets). Pronutrients were administered orally in a single administration.

Piglets were not given preventive antibiotics at birth. Their general condition at birth was good, no limps or diarrhoea were observed.

3. Results

The initial weight of the piglets in the experimental group was 1.39 kg, slightly lower than the control group, whose initial weight was 1.44 kg. At the end of the trial, animals supplemented with intestinal optimizer pronutrients on day 2 of life obtained higher final weight, of 6.58 kg, while the piglets in the control group obtained a final weight of 5.68 kg, which makes a difference of 900 g/piglet, even though the experimental group started with a lower weight.

The daily weight gain (DWG) was 247 g/day in the piglets of the pronutrient group and 202 g/day in the piglets of the control group, which represents a difference of 22.3% between the two experimental groups.

At the same time, a 33.1% reduction in mortality was observed among the pronutrient group, where mortality was 8.1%, and the control group, where mortality reached 12.1%.

4. Conclusion

The use of intestinal optimizer pronutrients prevents coccidiosis in newborn piglets and improves final weight and intestinal health at weaning. Thanks to the addition of these active molecules, final weight of piglets was improved by 15.85%, weight gain by 22.3%, while piglet mortality decreased by 33.1%.

Obtaining good final weight and intestinal health in piglets is essential to ensure the adaptation of piglets to the next breeding stages and good productive performance.

Intestinal optimizer pronutrients are marketed under the name Alquernat Zycox from Biovet S.A.