The supplementation of CELMANAX in diets for sow breeders and piglets during the nursery phase improved the performance of the females and finishing pigs in a commercial research trial.
The zootechnical and productive benefits of CELMANAX supplementation in the diets of sow breeders and piglets during the nursery phase have been observed previously. However, the long-term benefits for finishing animals were considered based on higher weaning weights but had not been documented through a study covering the entire production cycle.
Objectives
The first objective was to determine the benefit of CELMANAX supplementation one month prior to farrowing and during lactation on the performance of sow breeders. The second objective was to assess the continuous supplementation of CELMANAX during the nursery phase and its impact on the performance of finishing animals.
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.
The piglets were provided with creep feed and weaned at 21 days of age. The weaned piglets were transferred to various nursery pens, with 35 animals in each pen. The weaned piglets from the females fed the control diet received the control diet during the nursery phase. Meanwhile, the weaned piglets from the females that consumed the CELMANAX diet were fed a diet with CELMANAX SCP, also at an inclusion rate of 200 g/ton during the nursery phase.
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
The supplementation of CELMANAX in the diets of sows and piglets can improve performance and profitability for a pig producer.
