Growth response of weanling pigs to probiotic-supplemented drinking water

Date

4-2013

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture

Major Course

Major in Animal Science

College

College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Jay Ronel V. Conejos

Abstract

A 30-day feeding trial was conducted to determine the growth response of weanling pigs to probiotic-supplemented drinking water. Fifteen six-week-old weanling pigs weighing 6 kg ± 0.5 kg were randomly distributed to three treatments following Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The treatments are as follows: Treatment 1 or Control (commercial pre-starter feed + water without probiotics), Treatment 2 (commercial pre-starter feed + 2mL probiotic supplement per 1 gallon of water), and Treatment 3 (commercial pre-starter feed + 5 mL probiotic supplement per 1 gallon of water). The multispecies probiotics had no significant effect on the average daily gain of the pigs (P>0.05) despite the significantly higher average daily feed intake of the control group (P<0.05) from Day 16 to 30 of feeding trial. Probiotic supplementation slightly improved feed conversion efficiency of the pigs, although the effect was not significant (P>0.05). No significant difference was observed between the two doses of supplementation. The probiotic supplement had no significant effect on the scouring of the pigs and had no antagonistic effect on the pig's health. Generally, a more varied response was observed on the Day 16 to 30 than on Day 1 to 15 of the feeding trial denoting the need of the probiotics to colonize to pig's gut before beneficial effect can be observed. Economic analysis shows that non-supplementation of the probiotics is cheaper than supplementing it. However, looking at the trend, there is a possibility of improved feed cost efficiency in probiotic supplementation.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM)

Call Number

Thesis

Notes

ilib only

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS