Effects of Supplementation with a Quebracho Tannin Product as an Alternative to Antibiotics on Growth Performance, Diarrhea, and Overall Health in Early-Weaned Piglets

This study assessed the feasibility of using a vegetable extract, MGM-P (quebracho tannin product), as an alternative to antibiotics for weaned piglets; it investigated MGM-P effects on growth performance, diarrhea, and overall health in early-weaned piglets. In total, 24 piglets were allocated to t...

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Autores principales: Min Ma, James K. Chambers, Kazuyuki Uchida, Masanori Ikeda, Makiko Watanabe, Yuki Goda, Daisuke Yamanaka, Shin-Ichiro Takahashi, Masayoshi Kuwahara, Junyou Li
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/55986560a7e14cf0861480f7c0ef06df
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Sumario:This study assessed the feasibility of using a vegetable extract, MGM-P (quebracho tannin product), as an alternative to antibiotics for weaned piglets; it investigated MGM-P effects on growth performance, diarrhea, and overall health in early-weaned piglets. In total, 24 piglets were allocated to three treatment groups fed basal diets supplemented with 0, 0.2%, or 0.3% MGM-P for 20 days. The addition of 0.3% MGM-P to the diet of early-weaned piglets improved diarrhea incidence, hematological parameters, and intestinal mucosa structure. Furthermore, the addition of 0.2% or 0.3% MGM-P to the diet of early-weaned piglets did not affect their overall health. Importantly, MGM-P had no effects on average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), or feed conversion ratio (FCR). Gut morphology analysis showed that treatment with 0.3% MGM-P enhanced the jejunal villus height (<i>p</i> < 0.05) while reducing the ileal crypt depth (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and colon mucosal thickness (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Collectively, the findings suggested that the use of MGM-P as an alternative to dietary antibiotics could improve diarrhea incidence in early-weaned piglets without negative effects on growth performance or overall health.