Effect of Acidifier on Growth Performance of Weaned Piglets

Effect of Acidifier on Growth Performance of Weaned Piglets

Wan Rui, Liu Feng, Yu Miao, Lei Yan, Lyu Jirong

DadHank (Chengdu) Biotech Corp., Chengdu 611130

Abstract: The purpose of this test was to study the effect of adding compound acidifier to diet on the growth performance of weaned piglets. 48 weaned piglets (Duroc× Landrace× Large white) with an average weight of about 10.09±1.92 kg were selected and divided into 3 （treatment）groups according to the principle of consistent weight, sex and parity, with 4 replicates in each group and 4 piglets in each replicate. The test lasted for 14 days. The control group was fed with basic diet, while the test groups were fed diet added acidifiers of the same grade (commercially available acidifier Ⅰ and DadHank acidifier Ⅱ) produced by two different manufacturers, and the addition amount of acidifier was 3 kg/t. The results showed that: (1) Adding acidifier to diet can increase the daily feed intake of piglets, and the average feed intake in（of） acidifier Ⅰ group and acidifier Ⅱ group increased by 3.66% and 7.35% respectively compared with control group; (2) Adding acidifier to diet significantly increased the daily gain of piglets (P<0.05), and the daily gain in acidifier Ⅰ group and acidifier Ⅱ group was 4.39% and 11.14% higher than that of control group, respectively. (3) Adding acidifier to diet can significantly reduce the feed-gain ratio of piglets (P<0.05). (4) From the perspective of reducing diarrhea, the situation in acidifier Ⅰ group and acidifier Ⅱ group were significantly better than that of control group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between acidifier Ⅰ group and acidifier Ⅱ group in reducing diarrhea (P>0.05). Conclusion: The test proved that adding acidifier to diet of weaned piglets can improve the growth performance of weaned piglets, and acidifier played an important role in improving the growth performance of animals and reducing diarrhea after weaning, among which acidifier Ⅱ manufactured by DadHank (Chengdu) Biotech Corp. had a better effect.

Piglets are prone to nutritional diarrhea due to the imperfect（incomplete） development of digestive enzyme system, insufficient gastric acid secretion and incomplete protein digestion. At present, in the face of the current situation that most antibiotics are banned in animal feed, acidifier has become an important feed additive alongside probiotics, enzyme preparations and plant essential oils ^[1]. Adding a certain amount of acidifier to diet is beneficial to improve the digestibility of nutrients such as protein, and reduce the diarrhea rate ^[2]. Feed acidifier is a new type of green feed additive without drug resistance, residue and toxicity, which is widely used in diet of juvenile animals.

There are many kinds of acidifiers, mainly inorganic acids, organic acids and compound acidifiers. Inorganic acids are mainly phosphoric acid, and organic acids are mainly fumaric acid, citric acid, malic acid and lactic acid. The compound acidifier is compounded by several specific organic acids and inorganic acids, which can quickly reduce the pH value, maintain good buffer value and biological properties and the minimum addition cost. Screening the optimal compound acidifier is a trend in the development of feed acidifiers ^[3]. A large number of studies showed that acidifiers can promote animal growth, improve feed utilization rate, reduce intestinal pH value, improve animal digestive enzyme activity, promote intestinal growth and development, protect animal gastrointestinal mucosa health, maintain intestinal microflora balance, and enhance animal immune function. When weaned piglets change from breastfeeding to feed feeding, the digestive enzyme is insufficient or the activity is not enough, and the gastrointestinal tract of piglets can't adapt to solid feed for a while, which causes indigestion and easily leads to the proliferation and growth of harmful microbial flora in the intestine ^[4]. This test aims to investigate the effects of different kinds of compound acidifiers on the production performance and intestinal function of weaned piglets, verify the application effect of DadHank acidifiers in production, and investigate the effects of different acidifiers on the production performance and digestion and absorption of nutrients in weaned piglets.

1.2 Test design

According to the single-factor completely randomized design, 48 weaned piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Large white) with an average weight of about 10.09±1.92 kg were selected and divided into three groups according to the principle that the weight, sex and parity were basically the same, with four replicates in each group and four pigs in each replicate. The weaned piglets in control group were fed with basic diet (Group Ⅲ), and the test group was divided into two groups, namely a commercial acidifier group (Group Ⅰ) and a DadHank acidifier group (Group Ⅱ). The addition amount of acidifier in both groups was 3 kg/t (Table 1). The basic diet and its nutritional level are shown in Table 2.

3 Discussion

The results of this test showed that adding two different brands of compound acidifiers to diet of weaned piglets can improve the growth performance and diarrhea rate of weaned piglets, and the effect of DadHank acidifier was better than that of commercial acidifiers, which showed that acidifiers have a good effect in piglet feed. Wang Jie et al. ^[5] fed piglets with compound acidifier, and the results showed that the daily gain and feed conversion rate of piglets were significantly improved, and the diarrhea rate was reduced. Zhang Xuhui et al. ^[6] found that adding suitable organic acidifiers to piglet diet and reasonable proportion of different organic acidifiers can improve the growth performance and intestinal health of weaned piglets and reduce the total number of harmful bacteria.

The digestive system and immune system of early weaned piglets are not yet mature, and the pH value in the stomach is high and the gastrointestinal tract is not well developed. Li Zongming et al. ^[7] reported that the diets of weaned piglets were supplemented with 0.15% citric acid-based compound feed acidifier, 0.3% fumaric acid-based compound feed acidifier and 0.3% lactic acid-based compound feed acidifier, and the results showed that the diarrhea rate of 0.15% citric acid-based compound feed acidifier group and 0.3% fumaric acid-based compound feed acidifier group was reduced by 50% compared with control group, while the diarrhea rate of 0.3% lactic acid-based compound feed acidifier group was lower than that of control group. Chen Daiwen et al. ^[8] found that acidifiers, probiotics and oligosaccharides can improve the performance and nutrient digestibility of weaned piglets individually or in combination, and there were certain interaction effects. In this test, compared with control group, through the analysis of piglet growth performance and diarrhea rate, adding acidifier Ⅰ and acidifier Ⅱ to diet can significantly improve the production performance and diarrhea rate of weaned piglets, and the acidifier manufactured by DadHank (acidifier Ⅱ) had a better effect.