Königin-Luise-Str. 49
14195 Berlin
+49 30 838 52256
tierernaehrung@vetmed.fu-berlin.de
Adding dietary fibres to weaned piglets’ diet may reduce the incidence of post weaning diarrhoea. However, as dietary fibre may impair nutrient and energy digestibility, this may result in reduced performance.
It was hypothesised, that the inclusion of enzyme treated soy fibre may reduce performance, while increasing the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the hindgut of weaned piglets, as it contains both soluble and insoluble fibre fractions.
In total, 84 weaned piglets (DanBred x Duroc) were allocated to 4 feeding groups with 7 replicates and 3 animals per replicate. A starter diet with the addition of 0, 2, 4 or 6 % enzyme-treated soy fibre (ETSF) was fed ad libitum for 14 d. Performance (feed intake, bodyweight gain, feed conversion ratio) was recorded weekly, faecal score was evaluated daily and ileal, caecal, and colonic SCFA concentrations and pH-levels were measured at the end of the trial. Data were analysed by ANOVA and Tukey’s test (significance at p≤0.05).
The dietary treatment did not negatively impact performance resulting in similar feed intake, bodyweight gain and feed conversion ratio (P=0.819, 0.781, 0.912). Throughout the feeding trial, normal faecal consistency was observed in all groups (P=0.163). Piglets fed 6 % ETSF tended to have higher concentrations of SCFA and acetic acid in the mid ileum (P=0.071, 0.066). These animals also showed the highest pH (6.0, P=0.068) in the caecum.
Adding 2, 4 or 6 % enzyme treated soy fibre to the diets of weaned piglets did not impair performance during a 14-d feeding period. Additionally, minor effects were observed on intestinal pH and SCFA production. This indicates that the gut microbiome was influenced by the fibre addition. Further analysis on microbiota and their metabolites are warranted.