Impact of Nutritional Strategies to Prevent Post-Weaning Diarrhoea on Performance, Behaviour, and Microbiota in Piglets from Organic Farming
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Author
González-Rodríguez, Olga
Vila, Lluís
Delàs, Pino
Publication date
2024-06-08ISSN
2076-2615
Abstract
Organic livestock farming is committed to high environmental and animal welfare standards, although pathologies such as post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD) may appear. The main objective of this study was to assess nutritional strategies to prevent PWD in organic piglets. A total of 134 weaned piglets were fed one of three diets: high crude protein (17.8%, HCP), low crude protein (16.8%, LCP), and low crude protein supplemented with liquid whey (LCP+W). Piglets were assessed weekly for four weeks on the following parameters: diarrhoea incidence, additional health parameters, average daily gain, and behaviour. Faecal samples were taken to analyse the intestinal microbiota composition. Data were analysed using LMM and GLMM models and Shannon and Whittaker indexes. No significant effect of diet on diarrhoea incidence was found, but the LCP+W diet increased average daily gain. Pigs fed the LCP+W diet presented a lower percentage of drinking and negative social behaviour compared with the HCP diet, and LCP pigs presented higher exploration compared with HCP. In addition, LCP+W piglets showed a higher abundance of the beneficial genus Frisingicoccus. Although liquid whey did not reduce diarrhoea incidence, the benefits found in growth, microbiota composition, and reduced negative social behaviour indicate that it could be an optimal supplement to organic diets.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
636 - Animal husbandry and breeding in general. Livestock rearing. Breeding of domestic animals
Pages
18
Publisher
MDPI
Is part of
Animals
Citation
Bagaria, Marc, Yuliaxis Ramayo-Caldas, Olga González-Rodríguez, Lluís Vila, Pino Delàs, and Emma Fàbrega. 2024. “Impact of Nutritional Strategies to Prevent Post-Weaning Diarrhoea on Performance, Behaviour, and Microbiota in Piglets from Organic Farming”. Animals 14 (12): 1730. doi:10.3390/ani14121730.
Program
Benestar Animal
Genètica i Millora Animal
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2838]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/