Antimicrobials Boost Nursery Pig Performance, Returns

For the overall trial, adding antibiotics to the diet during any phase improved performance and economic returns, according to M.U. Steidinger and colleagues, presenting their paper at the Kansas Swine Day 2009.

1 March 2010

3 minute read

A total of 1,008 weanling pigs (12.0 lb and 19 days of age) were used in a 42-day experiment to compare different antibiotic regimens on growth performance and economic return.

From days 0 to 11 and days 11 to 21, pigs were fed diets containing no antibiotic, a combination of Denagard (Novartis Animal Health, Greensboro, NC) at 35 g/ton and chlortetracycline at 400 g/ton (Denagard/CTC), or Pulmotil (Elanco, Greenfield, IN; 363 g/ ton from days 0 to 11 and 181 g/ton from days 11 to 21).

From days 21 to 42, pigs previously fed Denagard/CTC or Pulmotil were fed diets containing no medication, Denagard/CTC, or a combination of Mecadox (Philbro Animal Health Corp., Ridgefield Park, NJ) at 25 g/ton and oxytetracycline at 400 g per ton (Mecadox/OTC).

Adding Denagard/ CTC or Pulmotil to the diet from days 0 to 11 and days 11 to 21 improved (P<0.01) average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed to gain ratio (F/G) and income over feed cost (IOFC).

There were no differences (P>0.21) in ADG or ADFI between pigs fed Denagard/CTC and pigs fed Pulmotil. However, pigs fed Denagard/CTC tended to have better (P<0.09) F/G from days 0 to 21.

Feed cost was also lower (P<0.01) and IOFC was greater (P<0.03) from days 0 to 21 for pigs fed Denagard/CTC than for pigs fed Pulmotil. Adding Denagard/CTC or Mecadox/ OTC to the diet from days 21 to 42 increased (P<0.05) ADG, ADFI and IOFC compared with feeding no antibiotic but there were no differences (P>0.17) in pig performance or IOFC between pigs fed Denagard/CTC and Mecadox/OTC.

For the overall trial, adding antibiotics to the diet during any phase improved (P<0.05) ADG, ADFI, F/G and IOFC.

These results demonstrate that adding antibiotics to the nursery diet improved pig performance and economical return on this commercial farm.

Reference

Steidinger M.U., M.D. Tokach, D. Dau, S.S. Dritz, J.M. DeRouchey, R.D. Goodband and J.L. Nelssen. 2009. Comparison of different antimicrobial sequences on nursery pig performance and economic return. Proceedings of the Kansas Swine Day 2009, 122-131.