This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary protein level and supplementation of protease on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gut microflora, intestinal morphology and fecal noxious gas emission in weanling pigs. A total of 240 weaned pigs (Landrace×Yorkshire×Duroc, 5.82±0.3 kg) were used during 4 weeks in 2 phases (days 0-14, phase 1; and days 15-28, phase 2) feeding program based on age and initial body weight. Pigs were allocated to 2×2 factorial arrangement, including 2 protein levels (HP, high protein; LP, low protein) and 2 protease levels (with or without protease). The average daily gain in the LP treatment (357 g/d) was increased rather than the HP treatment (339 g/d). A greater avarage daily gain was observed in dietary suppiemented protease treatment (358 vs 339 g/d). Average feed intake was greater in the LP treatment (544 g/d) rather than the HP treatment (530 g/d). A greater average daily feed intake was observed in dietary supplemented protease treatment (552 vs 523 g/d). Dry matter and crude protein digestibility were increased in dietary supplemented protease treatment (82.62% and 76.08%, respectively) rather than non-supplemented treatment (81.74% and 75.13%, respectively). Ileal Lactobacillus spp. count increased in dietary supplemented protease treatment (7.42 vs 7.32 log10CFU/g). Emission of H2S was decreased in the LP treatment (4.41 ppm) rather than HP treatment (4.78 ppm). Emission of NH3 was decreased in dietary supplemented protease treatment (10.43 ppm vs 11.76 ppm). In conclusion, the decrease of dietary protein level and supplementation of protease had beneficial effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gut microflora, and noxious gas emission in weanling pigs.

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of supplementation of hot melt extrusion (HME) processed Zn sulfate on growth performance, nutrients digestibility, small intestinal morphology and excretion of Zn in weanling pigs. A total of 200 piglets of mixed sex randomly allotted to four treatments on the basis of initial BW (7.15±0.81 kg). There were five replicates in each treatment with 10 pigs per replicate. The experimental treatments consisted of: 1) basal diet containing ZnSO4; 2) basal diet containing Zn-Methionine (ZnMet); 3) basal diet containing low level of nano-Zn as HME (ZnHME50); 4) basal diet containing medium level of nano-Zn as HME ZnSO4 (Zn-HME75). The average daily gain was improved by the ZnMet and ZnHME75 compared with the pigs fed ZnSO4 supplemented diets (p=0.009). Moreover, ZnHME75 and ZnMet affected on the ATTD of CP during phase 2 (p=0.014). The villus height (VH) was affected by increasing when pigs fed diets supplemented the ZnHME75 (P=0.044). The pigs fed diets supplemented ZnHME50 had significantly the lowest (p=0.037) Zn content in liver compared with other treatments. The Zn content in the feces was significantly higher (p<0.001) in ZnSO4 and ZnMet compared with ZnHME50 or ZnHME75. In conclusion, it could be concluded that dietary Zn can be reduced by 25% with ZnHME without any detrimental effect on performance of weanling pigs.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and gut health of broiler chickens when a dietary supplementation of multienzymes was added to diets, containing different energy levels. A total of 480 broiler chickens of similar body weight (Ross 308, 1-day-old) were randomly subjected to four treatments. The dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal-based diet supplemented with: multienzyme (amylase+protease+ mannanase+xylanase+phytase), 0.05% enzyme, and different energy levels (3010 and 3060 kcal/kg). The experimental diets were fed to the chicks in a mash form for 35 days in two phases (1–21 d, phase I; and 22–35 d, phase II). During the overall period, chicks fed with diets supplemented with multienzymes had a better weight gain (p<0.05) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed with diets without enzymes. There was no difference in the growth rate and FCR among the chicks fed with diets supplemented with enzymes, even though the dietary energy levels were different. The apparent fecal and ileal digestibility of dry matter, gross, crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus were significantly enhanced (p<0.05). The population of cecal and ileal Lactobacillus spp. was significantly increased (p<0.05), and Clostridium spp. and coliforms were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in diets supplemented with enzymes. Villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio in the small intestine was also significantly enhanced (p<0.05) in diets supplemented with enzymes. In conclusion, multienzyme supplementation had positive effects on the weight gain of broilers, FCR, digestibility of nutrients, and on the growth of intestinal microbiota.

This study was conducted to determine the replacement effect of spray dried plasma protein (SDPP) with dried porcine solubles (DPS) in weaning pigs. An ileal digestibility trial, at first, was conducted to formulate the experimental diets with SDPP or DPS. Six piglets (21-d old and 6.12kg BW) with T -cannula in the terminal ileum were used. In a feeding trial, 180 pigs (21-d old and 5.98kg BW) were alloted in a completely randomized block design. Treatments were T1 (SDPP 5%, DPS 0%), T2 (SDPP 5%, DPS 2.5%), T3 (SDPP 2.5%, DPS 0%), and T4 (SDPP 2.5%, DPS 2.5%) for phase I, and T1 (SDPP 3%, DPS 0%), T2 (SDPP 3%, DPS 1.5%), T3 (SDPP 1.5%, DPS 0%), and T4 (SDPP 1.5%, DPS 1.5%) for phase Ⅱ. Phase Ⅰ(0～1 week) diet was formulated to contain 3,300ME kcal/kg and 1.25% digestible lysine, and phase Ⅱ (2～3 week) diet contained 3,320ME kcal/kg and 1.10% digestible lysine. Chemical pompositions of the protein sources were higher in SDPP than DPS: CP (81.60 vs. 56.01), lysine (5.95 vs. 3.36), and methionine (1.85 vs. 1.22). Apparent ileal digestibilities of arginine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, threonine and phenylalanine were higher in DPS than SDPP (p<0.05). The apparent ileal digestibility of essential amino acids (average) was also higher in DPS than SDPP (p<0.05). There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in ADG and ADFI of piglets during phase Ⅰ (0～1 week) and Ⅱ (2～3 week) among treatments. However, during phase Ⅱ, T2 showed better FCR than T1 (p<0.05). During the overall period, there was no significant difference in growth performance among treatments. When DPS was partially replaced for SDPP, the diet cost was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in terms of cost/kg of body weight. In summary, the digestibility of DPS was exellent, and it would be concluded that DPS can be partially replaced in the young pigs' diet containing SDPP in order to reduce diet cost in weaning pigs.