Growth performance and intestinal morphology responses in early-weaned pigs to supplementation of antibiotic-free diets with an organic copper complex and spray-dried plasma protein in sanitary and non-sanitary environments

¹ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alharper{at}vt.edu.

	Abstract

The objective was to determine effects of addition of spray-dried plasma protein (SDPP) and copper (Cu) to non-medicated diets on growth performance and intestinal morphology in weaned pigs reared in sanitary or non-sanitary environments. Weanling pigs (n = 192, 18 ± 2 d of age, 6.0 ± 0.2 kg BW) were assigned to 8 treatments arranged factorially including 2 dietary levels of SDPP (0 or 6 % for the initial 10 d), 2 levels of added dietary Cu (0 or 200 ppm for the entire 35-d experiment) and 2 pen sanitation conditions (sanitized or non-sanitized before pig placement). The non-sanitary pen condition was created by 3 applications of swine manure slurry to all pen surfaces in 1 room and not washing or disinfecting. In an identical adjacent room sanitary pens were washed and disinfected prior to weaning. There were 4 pigs per pen and feed and water were available ad libitum. Growth performance was determined at the end of each diet formulation phase (d 10, 20, and 35 after weaning). On d 10, 1 pig per pen was euthanized and cross sections of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were collected for microscopic assessment of mucosal morphology. During the initial post-weaning period, SDPP and Cu supplementation improved ADG and ADFI (P < 0.001). A trend for interaction of sanitation and dietary SDPP (P = 0.07) was observed for G:F with a positive response to the supplement in non-sanitary pens but no response in sanitary pens. There were no interactions of SDPP and Cu for any performance variables (P > 0.30). By d 35, there were no main or interactive effects of treatment on ADG or G:F (P > 0.17). Pen sanitation condition produced morphological effects with shorter villus length and less crypt depth observed in each intestinal segment for pigs reared in the non-sanitary pens (P < 0.05), but these effects must be considered conditional based on potential confounding influence of separate nursery rooms. In the duodenum, reduced crypt depth with Cu supplementation (P = 0.01) and a tendency for greater villous length with SDPP supplementation (P = 0.09) were observed. In this study, SDPP and Cu supplementation improved pig growth performance during the initial 10 d post-weaning. These modifications to non-medicated diets acted independently with regard to impacts on post-weaning performance and, therefore, could have additive effects.

Key Words: copper, intestinal morphology, performance, pigs, sanitation, spray-dried plasma

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