Effects of Dietary Bacillus-based Probiotic on Growth Performance, Nutrients Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Fecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

Chen, Y.J; Min, B.J.; Cho, J.H.; Kwon, O.S.; Son, K.S.; Kim, H.J.; Kim, I.H.

doi:2006.19.4.587

Article

Swine Nutrition and Feed Technology

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2006;19(4): 587-592.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2006.587 Published online February 1, 2006.

Effects of Dietary Bacillus-based Probiotic on Growth Performance, Nutrients Digestibility, Blood Characteristics and Fecal Noxious Gas Content in Finishing Pigs

Y.J Chen, B.J. Min, J.H. Cho, O.S. Kwon, K.S. Son, H.J. Kim, I.H. Kim^*

Correspondence: I.H. Kim,

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation with bacillus-based probiotic (Bacillus subtilis, 1.0횞107 CFU/g; Bacillus coagulans, 2.0횞106 CFU/g and Lactobacillus acidophilus, 5.0횞106 CFU/g) on finishing pigs growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood characteristics and fecal noxious gas content and to determine the optimal addition level of this probiotic preparation. A total of forty eight pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 90.60 2.94 kg were allotted to three dietary treatments (four pigs per pen with four pens per treatment) according to a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatment included: 1) CON (basal diet); 2) BP1 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.1%) and 3) BP2 (basal diet+bacillus-based probiotic 0.2%). The experiment lasted 6 weeks. Through the entire experimental period, ADG was improved by 11% (p<0.05) in pigs fed diets supplemented with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic compared to pigs fed the basal diet. ADFI and gain/feed were not affected by the treatments (p>0.05). Supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic did not affect either DM and N digestibilities or blood characteristics (p>0.05) of pigs. Fecal ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) measured at the end of experiment was reduced (p<0.05) when pigs were fed the diet with 0.2% bacillus-based probiotic. Fecal butyric acid concentration also decreased significantly (p<0.05) whereas acetic acid and propionic acid concentrations were not affected (p>0.05) when pigs were fed diets with added bacillus-based probiotic. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of bacillus-based probiotic can increase growth performance and decrease fecal noxious gas content concentration.

Keywords: Probiotics; Digestibility; Blood Characteristics; Fecal Noxious Gas; Finishing Pigs