Effect of Supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae into Low Quality Local-Based Feeds on Performance and Nutrient Digestibility of Late Starter Local Pigs

The study aimed at evaluating the effect of supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae into low quality local-based feeds on performance and nutrient digestibility of late starter to grower stage local pigs. There were total 16 late starter local pigs fed with four treatment feeds based on block design with four pigs in each treatment. The four treatment feeds offered consisted of: commercial starter feeds Charoen Pokphand 552 (T0), basal feeds + yeast 2% of daily feeds requirement (T1), basal feeds + yeast 4% of daily feeds requirement (T2) and basal feeds + yeast 6% of daily feeds requirement (T3). Feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, protein and crude fiber digestibility were evaluated in the study. The findings showed that supplementing S. cerevisiae into low quality local-based diet improved 0.9%-2.7% feeds’ crude protein, 10%-19% feeds intake, 1%-6% daily weight gain, 3%-4% crude protein digestibility and 4%-5% crude fiber digestibility, but reduced feeds conversion efficiency by 0.3-0.4. The conclusion drawn is that supplementing S. cerevisiae (yeast) up to 6% improved performances of starter local pigs fed low quality feeds and performed the similar result with feeding commercial starter feeds Charoen Pokphand 552. Further research by widening the range and increasing the level of yeast supplementation could be done.