This paper aims to investigate the effects of adding bran to swine feed on growth and health of pigs. Given the rising demand for pork and increasing concerns about animal welfare, this topic is particularly timely and significant. Bran, rich in dietary fiber, promotes the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, induces satiety, and alleviates stress in pigs. Compared to other agricultural by-products like straw, bran offers superior nutritional and energy values, making it an ideal addition to swine diets. For instance, rice bran, which has high crude protein and energy values, improves growth performance. Meanwhile, wheat bran, though lower in energy value, has a high soluble fiber content that increases beneficial intestinal bacteria in nursery pigs and reduces stress-induced inflammation. Soybean hulls, with their lower crude protein and energy values compared to rice or wheat bran, help prevent excessive fat accumulation during the fattening process, thus enhancing carcass characteristics and pork quality. Therefore, adding bran to swine feed improves the health, growth performance, and carcass quality of pigs, helping to meet market demands.
This study was conducted to secure basic data for developing technologies to reduce the generation of odor substances by investigating the effects of environmental temperature on growth performance and the generation of odor substances from feces in growing pigs. A total of 16 pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc, average body weight 56.49±0.47kg) were randomly assigned to two treatments: thermal-neutral (TN) and heat stress (HS) conditions. The experiments were conducted for two weeks, with average temperature-humidity indices of 68.91±0.09 for TN and 85.98±0.08 for HS. The results showed that HS significantly decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI, 33.3%) and average daily gain (ADG, 25.8%) compared with TN (p<0.05). Non-esterified fatty acid in serum was lower (36.2%) in HS compared with TN (p<0.05). However, protein, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, and IgG in serum showed no difference between HS and TN. Phenol (350.0%) and skatole (416.3%) were significantly higher in HS than in TN (p<0.05). The decrease in growth performance is attributed to reduction in ADFI. The increase in phenol and skatole in HS is presumed to be due to the effect of HS on the metabolism of intestinal microbial composition. Digestion rate, intestinal microbial composition, and urine emissions are known to affect odor substances. Further research on the content of odor substances in urine, nutrient digestion rate, and intestinal microbial composition is considered necessary to determine the exact associations.
Bovine rotavirus (BRV) is one of the common gastrointestinal diseases that can occur in calves, causing severe diarrhea. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of oral administration of single-domain antibodies, single variable domain of heavy chain of HCAb (VHH), on the prevention and treatment of rotavirus-induced diarrhea in calves. Thirty calves were divided into five experimental groups (negative control, positive control, group A, group B and group C). Except for the negative control group, the experimental groups were inoculated with BRV on the 4th day after birth. The VHH supplementation groups were fed with a substitute milk containing different concentrations of VHH (1%, 2.5% and 7.5%). Changes in body weight, clinical symptoms, serum antibodies, and virus detection in feces were observed for a total of 10 days in each experimental group. The results showed a higher survival rate in the VHH supplementation groups compared to the positive control group. Clinical symptoms caused by rotavirus were alleviated in the VHH supplementation groups. The detection rate of rotavirus in feces also decreased. Gross findings indicated that the severity of disease in the VHH supplementation groups was milder than that in the positive control group. Therefore, VHH could be proposed as a useful alternative for the prevention and treatment of rotavirus-induced diarrhea in calves.