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Calcium nitrate supplementation has recently been suggested to provide potential benefits to sows and, in particular, their offspring when administered at a level of 1,200 ppm in feed shortly before farrowing through lactation. More specifically, nitrate supplementation has been suggested as one opportunity for improved placental and/or fetal blood flow and has been hypothesized in previous work to be important to the swine industry in light of the global trend toward larger litter sizes. The benefit is likely manifested through exposure to the nitrate moiety, but interestingly, nitrate has historically been considered a compound of concern for swine. High levels of nitrate once metabolized to nitrite can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin, resulting in increased methemoglobin and, subsequently, methemoglobinemia (MetHb) if the animal is deprived of significant amounts of oxygen; however, the level of nitrate exposure necessary to induce MetHb in sows is not clearly defined. This work was undertaken to examine methemoglobin levels in sows and piglets exposed to the potentially beneficial levels of 1,200 and 6,000 ppm nitrate added to their diets over the course of the periparturient period. Other oxygen capacity blood variables were evaluated (e.g., hemoglobin, hematocrit, and various measures of hemoglobin and red blood cell volumes and concentrations), as well as performance endpoints (weight changes and feed intake) and general observations over the 27-d period. No evidence of treatment-related toxicity manifestation was observed at these supplemental levels. Nearly all oxygen-related variables were affected by time (independent of treatment), indicating adaptive general effects of farrowing. These findings support the hypothesis that MetHb is not a concern up to at least 6,000 ppm supplemental nitrate exposure, even in combination with additional nitrate in the sow’s daily diet. This work is important to help swine producers understand that consideration of nitrate benefit should outweigh concern for risk of nitrate-induced toxicity.

An experiment was conducted to determine the impact of dietary SID Ile to Lys ratio on the performance pigs from 11 to 80 kg of BW. A total of 1,092 pigs (initial BW = 11.1, SEM = 0.6 kg; 14 pens/treatment; 13 pigs/pen) were used in an 80d trial with a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments were in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement containing 2 levels of DDGS (0 and 25%) and 3 levels of SID Ile/Lys (0.54, 0.58, and 0.62). Energy and nutrient levels of all treatments were formulated at equal levels that met or exceeded NRC (2012) requirements. The SID Ile/Lys ratio was controlled by crystalline Ile. The MIXED procedures of SAS 9.4 were employed for statistical analysis. Orthogonal contrasts were used to test for main effects of DDGS and SID Ile/Lys. In the results, formulating with 25% DDGS decreased FBW, ADG, and ADFI (P < 0.05) of growing pigs. The average FBW of treatments without and with 25% DDGS were 81.7 and 78.6 kg, respectively. The ADG of diets without and with DDGS were 0.88 vs 0.84 kg/d, respectively. The ADFI of treatments without DDGS were 1.85 kg/day, while the counterparts of treatments fed diets containing 25% DDGS were 1.79 kg/d. Feeding diets containing 25% DDGS tended to decrease Gain:Feed (0.477 vs. 0.472; P < 0.10). Increasing the level of SID Ile/Lys (from 0.54 to 0.62) linearly increased Gain:Feed in pigs fed diets containing 25% DDGS (0.467, 0.471, 0.477, respectively; P < 0.05). In summary, this study demonstrated feeding diets containing 25% DDGS decreased the performance of growing pigs by reducing ADG and ADFI. Greater SID Ile/Lys in diets may help reduce the negative impact of DDGS diets in grow-finishing pigs by improving feed efficiency.

The effects of an antioxidant support technology (AOX, Promote® AOX™; Provimi, Brookville, OH) in diets with different levels of vitamin E (VIT-E) were evaluated. A total of 1,848 naturally health-challenged (determined by ~2% higher than the yearly average barn mortality) pigs (~19 d of age; 5.9 ± 0.4 kg), 14 pens/treatment, and 22 pigs/pen were housed in two barns which were blocked separately by pen location and randomly allocated to treatments. Treatments were arranged as a 2 × 3 factorial with three levels of AOX (0, 0.02, 0.13%) and two levels of VIT-E (35 or 100 IU/kg). Pen weights were obtained on d 0, 7, 21, and 40 post-weaning. Growth performance and mortalities and removals were evaluated. Constructed contrasts were: 0 vs additional AOX (aggregate effect of 0.02 and 0.13 AOX), 0.02 vs 0.13 AOX, 35 vs 100 VIT-E, and all possible interactions. Overall (d 0 to 40), interactions were observed (P < 0.05) between additional AOX and VIT-E level for d 40 BW (35 VIT-E: 22.0, 22.3, 22.8 kg; 100 VIT-E: 23.0, 22.8, 22.3 kg), ADG (35 VIT-E: 0.39, 0.40, 0.42 kg/d; 100 VIT-E: 0.42, 0.41, 0.40 kg/d), ADFI (35 VIT-E: 0.52, 0.52, 0.54 kg/d; 100 VIT-E: 0.55, 0.54, 0.52 kg/d, and return over feed cost (ROFC; 35 VIT-E: $27.16, 27.62, 28.29; 100 VIT-E: $28.83, 28.31, 27.50). Additionally, interactions were observed (P < 0.05) between AOX level, when increased from 0.02 to 0.13%, and VIT-E level for ADG, ADFI, ROFC, and probability for mortality and removals (35 VIT-E: 10.4, 13.6, 6.5%; 100 VIT-E: 8.4, 10.0, 9.7%). Level of AOX or VIT-E did not impact cost/kg of gain or feed efficiency (P > 0.10). Including AOX in 35 IU/kg VIT-E diets improved growth performance parameters and reduced probability for mortality and removals, but not in diets containing 100 IU/kg VIT-E.

In rodents, severe dietary P restriction increases active phosphate absorption by the intestine. However, it remains unknown if moderate dietary P restriction has a similar effect. Weanling pigs (n = 32; body weight 7.4 ± 0.55 kg) were used in a 2 × 2 factorial design and fed dietary available P (aP) concentrations of 0.23 or 0.40% and Ca concentrations of 0.58 or 1.00% for 14 d. Diets were formulated on an aP basis instead of a total P basis, because pigs are unable to absorb phytate-P present in corn and soybean meal. Jejunal segments were mounted in modified Ussing chambers for determination of Na+-dependent nutrient transport. Intestinal mucosal scrapings were taken for RNA isolation and brush border membrane (BBM) vesicle isolation. Na+-dependent phosphate uptake and gene expression of Na-phosphate cotransporter IIb (NaPi-IIb), SGLT-1 (sodium/glucose cotransporter-1), and calbindin D(9k) and protein expression of NaPi-IIb were evaluated. Na+-dependent phosphate transport increased (P < 0.05) 46% as dietary aP concentration was decreased. However, increased Na+-dependent phosphate uptake was not accompanied by increased NaPi-IIb mRNA expression. Expression of NaPi-IIb protein in the BBM increased (P < 0.01) 84% in pigs fed low-P diets compared with pigs fed adequate-P diets. No dietary Ca effects or aP × Ca interactions were detected for Na-dependent P uptake, mRNA or protein expression of NaPi-IIb, or mRNA expression of calbindin D(9k). These data suggest that restricting dietary aP concentration by only 43% stimulates Na+-dependent phosphate uptake and expression of the NaPi-IIb protein in the BBM of the small intestine and through a post-transcriptional mechanism.

Two 5-wk experiments were conducted to determine the effects of water and diet acidification with and without antibiotics on weanling pig growth performance and microbial shedding. In Exp. 1, 204 pigs (19.2 d of age) were used in a 3 x 2 factorial, with 3 dietary treatments fed with or without water acidification (2.58 mL/L of a propionic acid blend; KEM SAN, Kemin Americas, Des Moines, IA). Dietary treatments were: 1) control, 2) control + 55 ppm of carbadox (CB), and 3) dietary acid [DA; control + 0.4% organic acid-based blend (fumaric, lactate, citric, propionic, and benzoic acids; Kemin Americas)] on d 0 to 7 followed by 0.2% inorganic acid-based blend (phosphoric, fumaric, lactic, and citric acids; Kemin Americas) on d 7 to 34. In Exp. 2, 210 pigs (average 18.3 d of age) were fed 1 of 3 dietary treatments: 1) control, 2) control + 55 ppm of CB, and 3) control + 38.6 ppm of tiamulin + 441 ppm of chlortetracycline on d 0 to 7 followed by 110 ppm of chlortetracycline on d 7 to 35 (TC) with or without dietary acidification (same as Exp. 1) in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. For both experiments, the pigs were allotted based on genetics, sex, and initial BW [5.5 kg (Exp. 1) or 5.6 kg (Exp. 2)]. Pigs were housed at 6 or 7 (Exp. 1) and 7 (Exp. 2) pigs/pen. Treatments were fed in 3 phases: d 0 to 7, 7 to 21, and 21 to 35 (34 d, Exp. 1). Fecal grab samples were collected from 3 pigs/pen on d 6, 20, and 33 for measurement of pH and Escherichia coli. During phase 3 and overall in Exp. 1, pigs fed CB had greater (P < 0.001) ADG (overall ADG, 389 vs. 348, and 348 g/d, respectively), ADFI (P < 0.007, 608 vs. 559, and 554 g/d, respectively), and d 34 BW (P < 0.001, 18.8 vs. 17.3, and 17.3 kg, respectively) than pigs fed NC and DA. Phase 3 ADG was improved (P < 0.01) by water acidification across all diets. In Exp. 2, pigs fed CB and TC had greater ADG (P < 0.004; 315 and 303 vs. 270 g/d, respectively), ADFI (P < 0.01), and d 35 BW (P < 0.002; 16.7 and 16.2 vs. 15.1 kg, respectively) than pigs fed NC. There was a tendency (P < 0.08) for an improvement in ADG when DA was added to the NC or TC, but decreased ADG when DA was added to CB.

Weanling pigs ( n = 188) were used in a 5-wk experiment to determine the effects of a bolus of direct fed microbials (DFM) at weaning and/or feeding DFM on growth performance and gastrointestinal histology. Dietary treatments were: 1) basal negative control (NC), 2) Trt. 1 + DFM in a bolus at weaning, 3) Trt. 1 + DFM in the feed for d 1–34, 4) Trt. 1 + DFM in a bolus at weaning, and in the feed for d 1–34, and 5) Trt. 1 + in-feed antibiotics (carbadox, 55 ppm). Dietary antibiotics (Trt. 5) improved ADG ( P P P P P P P

One hundred eighty pigs were used in a 15-wk experiment to determine the effects of supplementing pantothenic acid (PA) to the diet for 49 or 105 d prior to slaughter on growth performance and carcass characteristics. Pigs were blocked by sex and BW (initial = 29 kg) and were randomly assigned to pens (30 pens; six pigs per pen). Treatments included 1) control (13.2 ppm of PA), 2) control + 30 ppm of PA for 105 d preslaughter, and 3) control + 30 ppm of PA for 49 d preslaughter. Pig BW and pen feed intake were recorded biweekly. Ultrasonic estimates of 10th rib longissimus area (LEA) and fat thickness were recorded at 4-wk intervals on 3 pigs per pen. After 105 d, pigs were slaughtered, and individual hot carcass weights, American Ultrasound Services (AUS) backfat, and loin muscle depths (LMD) were recorded. Supplementation of PA did not affect (P> 0.10) overall ADG, ADFI, or feed efficiency. Tenth and last rib ultrasound thickness and LEA were not different (P> 0.10) between control-fed pigs and PA-supplemented pigs. Tenth rib carcass fat depths were numerically less for pigs fed diets with supplemental PA, but differences were not significant (P>0.10). Similarly, there was no effect of PA supplementation on carcass 10th rib LMD (P> 0.10). However, carcass lean percentage tended (P 13.2 ppm alters carcass composition.

The objective of this experiment was to determine if dietary vitamin D supplementation to vitamin D deficient pigs affects Na+-dependent nutrient uptake and mRNA expression of NaPi-IIb and calbindi...