INTERVIEW FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2022 37 Piglets on the low zinc and Selko®-pH diet tended to gain more weight than animals that received the high-zinc diet and Selko®-pH. (See Figure 1). It's always important to consider the efficiency of the feed investment, and results were promising here as well. By week three, feed conversion tended to be lower for pigs on the low-zinc and Selko®-pH diet compared to pigs in the high-zinc diet treatment group. (See Table 1.) Pigs in both the high-zinc and low-zinc diets that received Selko-pH performed better in terms of FCR than pigs not receiving an acidifier, regardless of the level of zinc fed. Looking at final body weight, over the six-week trial, piglets on the high-zinc diets tended to outperform those on only the low-zinc diets (Figure 2). But again, both groups of piglets receiving the acidifier outweighed the pigs that did not receive it. Animals in the low-zinc diet treatment group that received Selko-pH were heavier than their high zinc counterparts. (See Figure 2.) How did acidification affect daily feed intake? Given the stress of the transition from sow’s milk to solid feed, assuring adequate intake is always a concern. Study findings shown in Table 1 show that feeding high doses of ZnO negatively affected piglets’ average daily feed intake (ADFI, 166 vs 178 g/d) and improved average daily gain (ADG, 165 vs 167 g/d) during the first week post-weaning for high and low ZnO diets respectively. However, piglets that received a low dose of ZnO in their feed along with Selko-pH (LZ+PH) showed significantly higher ADFI (+13 g/d and +14 g/d) compared to Figure 2. End body weight of weaned piglets, week six post-weaning High dose of zinc oxide (ZnO) in feed and no water acidifier (HZ), low dose of ZnO in feed and no water acidifier (LZ), high dose of ZnO in feed and SelkopH in water (HZ+PH), low dose of ZnO in feed and Selko-pH in water (LZ+PH). Data of two studies. Columns with superscripts (a,b) are significantly different (p<0.05) Figure 1. Percentage improvement of average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), final body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of weaned piglets offered feed with low dose of zinc oxide (ZnO) and no water acidifier (LZ), high dose of ZnO and Selko-pH in water (HZ+PH) and low dose of ZnO and Selko-pH in water (LZ+PH) compared to high dose of ZnO in feed and no water acidifier Data of two studies.
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