Supplementation of CELMANAX in diets for sow breeders and piglets

The study was conducted at a commercial research farm in Peru. The groups of sow breeders (PIC) (18-27 animals per pen) were housed in 6 pens and distributed into two treatments, with three repetitions per treatment. One week before the expected farrowing date, the females were transferred to individual farrowing crates. The females were fed gestation and lactation diets without CELMANAX (control group) or with CELMANAX SCP at 200 g/ton for one month prior to the expected farrowing date and throughout lactation.

Conventional nursery diets based on corn and soybean meal, with milk replacer and plasma (5% Phase 1, 4% Phase 2, and 2.5% Phase 3), were provided, containing pharmacological levels of Zinc Oxide and antibiotics. Phases 1 and 2 included Doxycycline (1.2 kg/MT), approximately 10–20 mg/kg of body weight (BW), and Phases 3 and 4 included Florfenicol (1.5 kg/MT), approximately 2.5–10 mg/kg BW. No group of piglets received CELMANAX supplementation during the grow-finish phase.

Data collection

The weaning-to-heat interval (WHI) and pregnancy rate were monitored in the sows. In the piglets, body weight was measured at birth, weaning, and at the end of the nursery phase, as well as pre-weaning survival rate. Carcass weight and feed efficiency (FE) were measured when the pigs were marketed.

Data analysis

No statistical analysis was performed.

Results

Supplementation with CELMANAX reduced the sow’s weaning-to-estrus interval (WEI) (Figure 1). The performance data for the sows, piglets during the nursery phase, and in the finishing period are presented in Table 1. Piglets from sows supplemented with CELMANAX were heavier at birth and at weaning. The supplementation of CELMANAX in the diets provided during the nursery phase improved weight gain and feed conversion in the animals (Table 1). As a result, by the end of the nursery phase, the piglets from the CELMANAX group were 2.4 kg heavier compared to those in the control group. Although CELMANAX was not supplemented during the growing and finishing phases, pigs that received CELMANAX during the nursery phase gained 5.4 kg more in carcass weight and had better feed conversion at the end of the growing and finishing periods (Table 1).

Figure 1. Wean to Estrus interval (days) for sows on study

Table 1. Performance Data

Table 2. Net profit.

A direct correlation between weaning weight and the end of the nursery phase with growth rate and feed conversion in growing pigs has been previously reported. This study demonstrates that the supplementation of CELMANAX in the diets of sow herds and piglets during the nursery phase resulted in additional profits of 28.33 Soles per finished animal (Table 2).

Conclusions