GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND GUT PROMOTING ACTIVITY OF THREE CONVENTIONAL FIBRE FEEDSTUFFS IN DIETS OF GROWING PIGS

Background. The increasing utilisation of fibre feedstuffs in diets of pigs nowadays calls for concerns not only on the growth but also the health status of the animals and the possibility to eradicate the use of in-feed antibiotics for pigs. Objective. To evaluate the growth performance and gut promoting activity of three fibre feedstuffs (Palm kernel cake (PKC), Brewers’ dried grain (BDG) and Wheat offal (WO)) in diets of growing pigs. Methodology. Three dietary treatments containing 40 % each of PKC, BDG and WO were randomly allotted to 24 growing crossbred (Large White x Hampshire) pigs of average initial weight of 30± 0.50 Kg in an 82 d feeding trial. Results. There was an influence (p<0.05) of sources of fibre feedstuffs for the arabinoxylan- and mannan-oligosaccharide concentrations of the dietary treatments with BDG having comparatively higher values than WO and PKC diets. The short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations and pH of gut digesta were different (p<0.05) across dietary groups with pigs fed BDG diet having higher SCFA concentration in the foregut and hindgut. In the gut flora, BDG and WO promoted the highest (p<0.05) Lactobacillus population in the small and large intestines respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) effects of fibre sources on the final weight, average daily gain and daily intake of pigs fed the different treatments with those fed WO diets showing superior performance over pigs fed either PKC or BDG diet. Implication. The WO diet promoted the fastest growth and better gut effects but BDG resulted in the most efficient feed to gain conversion. Conclusion. All the diets exhibited prebiotic activity, enhanced the growth of beneficial bacterial in the gut and could reduce the use of in-feed antibiotics for pigs.