Effect of Diet Acidification on the Physiology of Sows

• Main Authors: Duurimaa Ser-Od, 杜蕾瑪
• Other Authors: Dr. Liang Chou Hsia
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80222746623823579527

碩士 === 國立屏東科技大學 === 熱帶農業暨國際合作系所 === 98 === Organic acids have been widely used as feed to replace antibiotics in livestock feeds. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of organic acid supplementation on the growth performance, health of the reproductive tract, behavior and blood characteristics of the pig. Two experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of organic acid supplementation on the growth performance, health and reproductive tract of the pigs. In Experiment 1 a total of multiparious 10 pigs were used. Average initial weight was 237 kg. Sows were assigned to two different treatments. Dietary treatment were: 1) control, 2) control+0.4% organic acid-based blend (fumaric acid, citric acid, phosphoric acid, malic acid and fatty acids matrix) offered twice daily at 6:00 and 18:00 h. In Experiment 2, a total of 16 (Landrace x Yorkshire x Duroc) gilts (average age 6 month of age) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments in an experiment. Pigs were divided into the following 4 treatments: 1) control (basal diet), 2) control + 0.1% Tetracid, 3) control + 0.2% Tetracid, and 4) control + 0.4% Tetracid. Parameters measured were vagina pH, urine pH and bacteria count. The pH of urine and vagina were not constant, they are very different within weeks. At week 5, there were significant difference (P<0.001) in the urine pH as compared to week 1 to 4. During the 23 week period, there were significant differences (P<0.01) in the urine pH measurement, for example at wk 3 and wk 17. Similarly for the vagina pH, there were significant differences in the vagina pH measurement (P<0.01) as compared to control. Temperature and vagina pH also showed significant differences (P<0.001) for pig treated with 0.4% as compared to the control throughout the duration of the experiment. In conclusion, addition of 0.4% tetracid increased urine pH and decreased vagina pH. Blood glucose of the none supplemented (control) treatment increased while that of the tetracid fed group decreased with increasing level of supplementation. Higher concentration of tetracid increased drinking but the lower concentration and the control group decreased. Similarly, higher concentration of tetracid increased urination. Tetracid supplementation seems to influence appetite and thus increased eating across all the treated groups. Blood pH decreased for all treatments with lower values from the higher concentration of tetracid.