EFFECT OF FERMENTABLE DIETARY FIBRE ON PIG PERFORMANCE IN A LARGE UNIT INFECTED WITH ENDEMIC SWINE DYSENTERY
C. Mauch and G. Bilkei

Abstract
In a large Hungarian finishing unit, 5637 pigs were allocated to 10 large barns and treated until slaughter as follows: Group 1 (n =2722): fed with a diet containing 9.6% high fermentable neutral detergent fibre. Group 2 (n =2915): fed with food containing 6.1 % low fermentable neutral detergent fibre.

In each group, the 200 smallest pigs were selected as test subjects (= 7.35% in group 1 and 6.86% in group 2). The animals were subjected to the following diagnostic procedures: faecal shedding of B. hyodysenteriae, antibody response, clinical signs, growth performance, and gross and microscopic lesions specific for swine dysentery (SD).

Seroconversion to, and faecal shedding of, B. hyodysenteriae was diagnosed in the majority of pigs at day 30 after transport to the finishing unit. At necropsy, 187 animals in group one and all pigs in group two showed SD specific gross pathological lesions in the colon. All animals in both groups showed histological lesions in the colon, which were typical for SD. The clinical impressions and diarrhoea scores showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the animals fed with 9.6 % high fermentable fibre and those fed with 6.1 % low fermentable fibre. Production parameters showed no significant differences, but the mortality rate differed significantly between the two groups (p<0.05 - [4.07% in group 1 and 7.07% in group 2]). High fermentable neutral detergent fibre positively influences the clinical expression and productivity in finishing pigs infected with endemic swine dysentery.

Add to Basket