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Food safety is the most important global health issue due to foodborne pathogens after consumption of contaminated food. Foodborne bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter spp., Bacillus cereus, Vibrio spp., Yersinia enterocolitica and Clostridium perfringens are leading causes of the majority of foodborne illnesses and deaths. These foodborne pathogens often come from the livestock feces, thus, we analyzed fecal microbial communities of three different livestock species to investigate the prevalence of foodborne pathogens in livestock feces using metagenomics analysis. Our data showed that alpha diversities of microbial communities were different according to livestock species. The microbial diversity of cattle feces was higher than that of chicken or pig feces. Moreover, microbial communities were significantly different among these three livestock species (cattle, chicken, and pig). At the genus level, Staphylococcus and Clostridium were found in all livestock feces, with chicken feces having higher relative abundances of Staphylococcus and Clostridium than cattle and pig feces. Genera Bacillus, Campylobacter, and Vibrio were detected in cattle feces. Chicken samples contained Bacillus, Listeria, and Salmonella with low relative abundance. Other genera such as Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Neisseria, Helicobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas known to be opportunistic pathogens were also detected in cattle, chicken, and pig feces. Results of this study might be useful for controlling the spread of foodborne pathogens in farm environments known to provide natural sources of these microorganisms.

Copper is an essential mineral for pigs, thus it is used as a feed additive in the forms of copper sulfate. Therefore, this study aimed at characterizing the fecal microbiota shifts in pigs as fed by different forms of copper supplementation. 40 growing pigs aged 73 ± 1 days with an average weight of 30.22 ± 1.92kg were randomly divided into 5 groups. The control group (CON) fed with basal diet, while treatment groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 100 ppm/kg of copper sulfate (CuSO4), Cu-glycine complex (CuGly), Cu-amino acid complex (CuAA), and Cu-hydroxy(4methylthio)butanoate chelate complex (CuHMB) for 28 days of trial, respectively. The data presented the comparison between inorganic and organic copper supplementation through gut microbiota in growing pigs. Alpha and Beta diversity anaylsis resulted in copper supplementation did shifted gut microbioal community structure. At the phylum level, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most abundant phyla at all times regardless of treatment. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Prevotella, Lactobacillus, Megasphaera, and SMB53 of the CuGly and CuHMB groups were significantly higher than those of copper sulfate and basal diet groups. Overall, this study may provide the potential role of organic copper replacing inorganic copper, resulting in increased beneficial bacteria in the pig gut.

The foodborne illness is the important public health concerns, and the livestock feces are known to be one of the major reservoirs of foodborne pathogens. Also, it was reported that 45.5% of foodborne illness outbreaks have been associated with the animal products contaminated with the livestock feces. In addition, it has been known that the persistence of a pathogens depends on many potential virulent factors including the various virulent genes. Therefore, the first step to understanding the public health risk of livestock feces is to identify and describe microbial communities and potential virulent genes that contribute to bacterial pathogenicity. We used the whole metagenome shotgun sequencing to evaluate the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and to characterize the virulence associated genes in pig and chicken feces. Our data showed that the relative abundant of potential foodborne pathogens, such as

Salmonella enterica is a representative foodborne pathogen in the world. The S. enterica strain K_SA184 was isolated from the lamb (Ovis aries), which was collected from a local traditional market in South Korea. In this study, the S. enterica strain K_SA184 was sequenced using PacBio RS II and Illumina NextSeq 500 platforms. The final complete genome of the S. enterica strain K_SA184 consist of one circular chromosome (4,725,087 bp) with 52.3% of guanine + cytosine (G + C) content, 4,363 of coding sequence (CDS), 85 of tRNA, and 22 of rRNA genes. The S. enterica strain K_SA184 genome includes encoding virulence genes, such as Type III secretion systems and multidrug resistance related genes.

The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of substituting corn with ground brown rice on growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota in weanling pigs. Seventy-two weanling pigs (28 d old with 6.78 ± 0.94 kg body weight [BW]) were randomly allotted to two dietary treatments with six pens and six pigs (three barrows and gilts) per pen within a randomized complete block design. The control pigs were fed a typical diet for weanling pigs based on corn and soybean meal diet (control diet: CON), and the other pigs were fed a formulated diet with 100% replacement of corn with ground brown rice for 35d (treatment diet: GBR). Growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota of weanling pigs were measured. The substitution of corn with GBR did not affect growth performance or diarrhea frequency. Additionally, there were no differences in white blood cell number, hematocrit, cortisol, C-reactive protein, and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels between pigs fed CON or GBR for the first 2 wk after weaning. However, weanling pigs fed GBR had lower (P < 0.05) serum transforming growth factor-beta 1 level than those fed CON. Furthermore, weanling pigs fed GBR had increased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of phylum Firmicutes and genus Lactobacillus and Streptococcus and decreased (P < 0.05) relative abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes and genus Clostridium and Prevotella in the gut microbiota compared with those fed CON. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in growth performance when corn was replaced with ground brown rice in diets for weanling pigs. Furthermore, the substitution of corn with ground brown rice in weaning diet modulated immune status and gut microbiota of pigs by increasing beneficial microbial communities and reducing harmful microbial communities. Overall, ground brown rice-based diet is a potential alternative to corn-based diet without negative effects on growth performance, immune status, and gut microbiota changes of weanling pigs.

Background: Development of alternatives to in-feed antibiotics in the swine industry have been the focused of many pig gut microbiota studies to improve animal health. In this study, we evaluated the effects of probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici (PRO), prebiotic lactulose (PRE), and their synbiotic combination (SYN) on weaned pig gut microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in weaned piglets challenged with Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Results: Our data showed that prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics improved the intestinal health in weaned piglets. No significant differences were observed in species richness and species diversity in weaned piglets fed prebiotics, probiotics and their synbiotic combination. However, beta diversity analysis revealed distinct clustering of the microbiota of according to dietary treatment and by oral challenge of STEC. At the phylum level, Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio was lower in the dietary treatment groups than the control group. Oral supplementation of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics enriched the abundance of Prevotella and Roseburia. Succinivibrio was elevated in PRO group; however, Phascolarctobacterium was depleted with STEC challenge regardless of dietary treatment. Overall, our data showed that administration of synbiotics in piglets improved intestinal health through gut microbiota modulation. Conclusions: Our data indicated that prebiotics, probiotics and their synbiotic combination could promote intestinal health through gut microbiota modulation in weaned piglets.

Twenty weaned piglets with initial body weight of 6.83 ± 0.33 kg (21 day of age, LYD) were randomly assigned to four treatments for a two-week feeding trial to determine the effects of different dietary zinc on nutrient digestibility, intestinal health, and microbiome of weaned piglets. The dietary treatments included a negative control (CON), standard ZnO (ZnO, 2500 ppm), zinc chelate with glycine (Chelate-ZnO, 200 ppm), and nanoparticle-sized ZnO (Nano-ZnO, 200 ppm). At 0 to 1 week, the diarrhea score was decreased in the CON group compared with the ZnO, Chelate-ZnO, and Nano-ZnO group. In overall period, the ZnO and Nano-ZnO groups exhibited improved diarrhea scores compared to the CON group. The apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter and gross energy was the lowest in the CON group after one week. Compared to the ZnO group, the chelate-ZnO group exhibited higher proportion of T-bet+ and FoxP3+ T cells and the nano-ZnO group had higher numbers of RORgt+ and GATA3+ T cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes. ZnO group increased IL-6 and IL-8 levels in the colon tissues and these positive effects were observed in both chelate ZnO and nano-ZnO groups with lower level. The 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that the relative abundance of Prevotella was higher in the ZnO-treated groups than in the CON group and that of Succinivibrio was the highest in the nano-ZnO group. The relative abundance of Lactobacillus increased in the ZnO group. In conclusion, low nano-ZnO levels have similar effects on nutrient digestibility, fecal microflora, and intestinal immune profiles in weaning pigs, thus, nano-ZnO could be used as a ZnO alternative for promoting ZnO utilization and intestinal immunity.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing corn with brown rice on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, and gut microbiota of growing and finishing pigs. A total of 100 growing pigs (23.80 ± 2.96 kg BW, 10 weeks of age) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments (5 pigs/pen, 5 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design (block = BW) as follows: corn-soybean meal basal diet (CON) and replacing corn with 50% (GBR50), 75% (GBR75), and 100% (GBR100) of ground brown rice. Each trial phase was for 6 weeks. During the growing period, there were no differences on growth performance and nutrient digestibility among dietary treatments. Similarly, no differences were found on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics of pigs during the finishing period among dietary treatments. As a result of the beta diversity analysis, microbial populations were not clustered between CON and GBR100 during the growing phase, but clustered into two distinct groups of CON and GBR100 during the finishing phase. In conclusion, brown rice can be added to the diets of growing-finishing pigs by replacing corn up to 100% without negatively affecting growth performance of the pigs, additionally, this may have an effect on changes in pig intestinal microbiota if continued for a long time.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a matrix-coated organic acids and medium-chain fatty acids blend (MCOFA) in growing pigs. Ninety six pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] with an average body weight (BW) of 47.71 ± 3.73 kg were used in a 6 wk experiment. Pigs were allotted to diets containing 0 or 2 g kg−1 of MCOFA, and 0 or 2.5 g kg−1 of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) according to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Pigs fed diets supplemented with MCOFA had improved growth efficiency compared with those fed a diet without MCOFA (P 3) gas emissions compared with those fed without AGP (P 3 and acetic acid gas emissions compared with those fed without MCOFA (P

Two experiments were conducted to investigate effects of dietary flavor as a feed additive on growth performance of weaned pigs. The flavor used in experiments was a commercial product (Luctarom®, Lucta Guangzhou, China) containing milky cream flavor. In Exp. 1, 72 weaned pigs (initial BW = 6.51 ± 0.21 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments (4 pigs/pen; 9 replicates/treatment): an experimental diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON1) and CON1 supplemented with 0.05% flavor (FLA). In Exp. 2, 72 weaned pigs (initial BW = 6.66 ± 0.32 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments (4 pigs/pen; 9 replicates/treatment): a commercial diet based on corn and soybean meal with spray dried plasma, fish meal, and zinc oxide (CON2) and CON2 supplemented with FLA. Pigs were fed respective dietary treatment for 6 weeks. Growth performance was measured on day 1, 7, 14, 21, and 42 after weaning. Data were analyzed using the PROC GLM procedure of SAS. The statistical model for every measurement included dietary effect and BW as a covariate in a randomized complete block design (block = BW). In Exp. 1, pigs fed FLA tended to increase ADG (0.493 vs. 0.451 kg/d; P < 0.10) during the experimental period compared with those fed CON1. However, there were no differences in ADFI and G:F between CON1 and FLA. In Exp. 2, pigs fed FLA had greater ADG (0.548 vs. 0.463 kg/d; P < 0.05) and tended to increase ADFI (0.870 vs. 0.753 kg/d; P < 0.10) during the experimental period than those fed CON2. However, there was no difference in G:F between CON2 and FLA. In conclusion, the addition of dietary flavor in experimental and commercial nursery diets improved growth performance of weaned pigs.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of multi-enzyme on diarrhea and immune responses of weaned pigs. A total 36 weaned pigs (5.92 ± 0.48 kg BW; 28 d old) were randomly allotted to 2 dietary treatments (3 pigs/pen, 6 replicates/ treatment) in a randomized complete block design. The dietary treatments were a typical diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON with 0.1% multienzyme (Multi; mixture of β-mannanase, xylanase, α-amylase, protease, β-glucanase, and pectinase). Pigs were fed their respective diets for 6 wk. Frequency of diarrhea, levels of packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cells (WBC), immunoglobulins, cortisol, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor- β (TGF-β), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured. Multi group tended to decrease (p

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of multi-enzyme on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs. A total 36 weaned pigs (5.92 ± 0.48 kg BW; 28 d old) were randomly allotted to 2 dietary treatments (3 pigs/pen, 6 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design. The dietary treatments were a typical diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON with 0.1% multi-enzyme (Multi; mixture of β- mannanase, xylanase, α-amylase, protease, β-glucanase, and pectinase). Pigs were fed their respective diets for 6 wk. Measurements were growth performance, morphology of ileum, apparent ileal digestibility and apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and energy of weaned pigs. There were no significant differences on growth performance during overall experimental period. No differences were found for the morphology of ileum and nutrient digestibility between CON and Multi groups. Therefore, the results in the current study indicated that multi-enzyme supplementation in diets had no effects on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs.

This study evaluated the effects of different gestation housing types on reproductive performance of sows. A total of 60 sows (218 ± 24 kg body weight) with mixed parity were used. During gestation, 28 sows were housed in groups with electronic sow feeders (space allowance = 1.26 m2 /sow) and 32 sows were housed in individual stalls (space allowance = 1.20 m2 /sow). Sows from both housing types were moved to farrowing crates on day 109 of gestation and stayed until weaning (18 days post-farrowing). Typical corn-soybean meal diets were provided to sows during gestation and lactation. Measurements were reproductive performance of sows at farrowing as well as performance of sows and their litter during lactation. Similar total numbers of piglets born at farrowing were observed for sows gestated in both housing types. However, group-housed gestation sows had more mummies (0.321 vs. 0.064; P

The study was conducted to investigate effects of dietary inactivated probiotics on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and immune responses of weaned pigs. A total of 96 weaned pigs (initial BW = 6.95 ± 0.25 kg) were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with increasing levels of inactive probiotics (4 pigs/replicate; 6 replicates/treatment; 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4%; CON, T1, T2, and T3) in a randomized complete block design (BW and sex as blocks). The inactivated probiotics used in this experiment was a commercial product (CJ CheilJedang Biotechnology Research Institute, Seoul, Korea) containing 1 x 106 CFU/g on stains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Pigs were fed respective dietary treatments for 4 weeks. During the last week of the experimental period, pigs were fed their respective dietary treatments containing 0.2% chromic oxide. Fecal samples were collected by rectal palpation daily for the last 3 days after the 4-day adjustment period during the last week of experiment. Blood was collected from randomly selected one pig each pen on d 1, 3, 7, and 14 after weaning. Measurements were growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), TNF-α, TGF-β, CRP, and cortisol by ELISA. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. The inactivated probiotics increased ADG (471, 501, and 513 vs. 428 g/d; P < 0.05) and G:F (0.65, 0.69, and 0.71 vs. 0.58 g/g; P < 0.05) during overall experimental period compared with CON. The inactivated probiotics increased ATTD of GE (86.87, 87.29, and 88.53 vs. 85.25%; P < 0.05) compared with CON. The inactivated probiotics decreased TNF-α (600, 542, and 523 vs. 849 pg/ml; P < 0.05) and cortisol (5.58, 5.56, and 5.44 vs. 7.25 ng/ml; P < 0.05) on d 7 compared with CON. In conclusion, addition of inactivated probiotics improved growth performance, and nutrient digestibility, and modified immune responses.

This study was conducted to investigate effects of dietary flavor on immune responses and gut microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 72 weaned pigs (initial BW = 6.66 ± 0.32 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments (4 pigs/pen; 9 replicates/treatment) in randomized complete block design (block = BW). The dietary treatments were 1) a commercial diet based on corn and soybean meal with spray dried plasma, fish meal, and zinc oxide (CON) and 2) CON + 0.05% flavor (FLA) containing milky cream flavor (Luctarom®, Lucta Guangzhou, China). Pigs were fed respective dietary treatments for 6 weeks. Blood was collected from randomly selected one pig in each pen on d 0, 7, and 14 after weaning. Three pigs per dietary treatment were randomly selected to collect feces on the last day of the experiment to verify their gut microbiota. Measurements were the number of white blood cells (WBC) by an automated hematology analyzer calibrated for porcine blood and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), and cortisol by the ELISA and gut microbiota by metagenomics analysis with pyrosequencing. The immune responses data were analyzed using the PROC GLM procedure of SAS. The gut microbiota data were analyzed using CLcommunity program. Pigs fed FLA had lower WBC on d 7 (P < 0.10) and 14 (P < 0.05), TNF-α on d 7 (P < 0.10), and IL-6 on d 7 (P < 0.10) than those fed CON. The FLA increased (P < 0.05) phylum Firmicutes and genus Lactobacillus and Clostridium in gut microbiota of weaned pigs compared with CON, but decreased (P < 0.05) phylum Bacteroidetes and genus Prevotella. In conclusion, the addition of dietary flavor in the commercial diet modified immune responses and modulated gut microbiota of weaned pigs.

High-quality protein ingredients have been used in nursery diets, in spite of expensive ingredients, to minimize nutritional deficiency and disease problems. Recent dramatic increases in prices of protein products for nursery diets have exacerbated the challenge. Spray-dried egg may be a part of the solutions. Therefore, this review describes the value of spray-dried egg in nursery diets as a high-quality protein source. Spray-dried egg is egg by-product and is produced by only eggs without shell that are below the USDA Grade B standards. Spray-dried egg is an excellent nutrient source: 1) highly digestible, 2) excellent balance of amino acids, 3) rich content of fat, and 4) high metabolizable energy. These can be attributed to growth of nursery pigs. Beyond the provision of bioavailable nutrients, spray-dried egg also may provide specific physiological benefits. Spray-dried egg contains 1) immunoglobulin antibodies (IgY: IgG in egg yolk) that may attach to intestinal pathogens and excrete them and 2) lysozymes antimicrobial protein that can damage bacteria cell wall. Thereby feeding spray-dried egg may reduce concentration of intestinal pathogen and thus improve potential gut health or enteric disease resistance in nursery pigs. This is important for physiologically immature weaned pigs. Based on these benefits, spray-dried egg is believed to have the same benefits as spray-dried plasma protein and milk products in diets for nursery pigs. Therefore, it is suggested that spray-dried egg has a great potential as a valuable protein source in nursery diets.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of palm kernel expellers on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood profiles of weaned pigs. A total of 88 weaned pigs (6.94±0.76 kg body weight [BW]; 28 d old) were randomly allotted to 2 dietary treatments (4 pigs/pen; 11 replicates/treatment) in a randomized complete block design (sex as a block). The dietary treatments were a typical nursery diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON added with 20% of palm kernel expellers (PKE). Pigs were fed for 6 wk using a 3-phase feeding program with declining diet complexity and with phases of 1, 2, and 3 wk, respectively. Blood was collected from randomly selected 2 pigs in each pen before weaning and on d 7 after weaning. Pigs were fed respective dietary treatments containing 0.2% chromic oxide from d 29 to 35 after weaning. Fecal samples were collected from randomly selected 2 pigs in each pen daily for the last 3 days after the 4-d adjustment period. Measurements were growth performances, digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen and energy, white and red blood cell counts, packed cell volume, and incidence of diarrhea. The PKE increased average daily gain (ADG) (246 vs 215 g/d; p = 0.06) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (470 vs 343 g/d; p0.05) and decreased gain-to-feed ratio (G:F) (0.522 vs 0.628 g/g; p0.05) during phase 2 compared with CON, but did not affect growth performance during phase 1 and 3. During overall experimental period, PKE increased ADG (383 vs 362 g/d; p = 0.05) and ADFI (549 vs 496 g/d; p0.05) compared with CON, but did not affect G:F. However, no differences were found on digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, and energy between CON and PKE. The PKE reduced frequency of diarrhea (15% vs 25%; p = 0.08) for the first 2 wk after weaning compared with CON. Similarly, PKE decreased white blood cells (8.19 vs 9.56×10(3)/μL; p = 0.07), red blood cells (2.92 vs 3.25×10(6)/μL; p = 0.09), and packed cell volume (11.1% vs 12.6%; p = 0.06) on d 7 after weaning compared with CON. In conclusion, addition of 20% palm kernel expellers to nursery diet based on corn and soybean meal had no negative effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood profiles of weaned pigs.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of spray dried plasma (SDP) in lactation diets on immune responses of lactating sows and their litters. A total of 12 lactating sows (227.75 ± 7.50 kg BW; parity = 2.0 ± 0.7) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were a typical lactation diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON supplemented with 1% of SDP (SDP). Sows were fed experimental diets from d 30 before expected farrowing to weaning. Blood Samples were collected from sows on d 0, 3, and 7 after farrowing and randomly selected 2 piglets in each sow on d 3 and 7 after birth. Measurements were serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol, and immunoglobulin (Ig)G, M, and A from their litters by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data were analyzed using the PROC GLM of SAS. Sows fed SDP tended (P < 0.10) to have lower serum TNF-α on d 3 (264.94 vs. 281.96 pg/ml) and d 7 (249.35 vs. 272.15 pg/ml) than sows fed CON. Moreover, SDP tended (P < 0.10) to decrease of serum TGF-β (311.37 vs. 448.07 pg/ml) and cortisol (0.47 vs. 0.55 ng/ml) on d 3 compared with CON. The litters from sows fed SDP tended (P < 0.10) to reduce serum TNF-α (349.87 vs. 423.57 pg/ml), TGF-β (853.49 vs. 980.41 pg/ml), and cortisol (0.62 vs. 1.05 ng/ml) on d 7 than litters from sows fed CON. However, there were no differences on CRP, IgG, IgM, and IgA of sows and their offspring between CON and SDP. In conclusion, supplementation of dietary spray dried plasma in lactation diets may reduce inflammatory responses of sows and their litters.

The use of antibiotics in Korean swine production has been changing to a restricted use of in-feed antibiotics. These antibiotics, which are also growth promoters, are powerful for disease control. Due to this issue, the swine industry is consistently looking for any kind of alternatives to antibiotics such as new feed ingredients, feed additives, feed formulation practices, or feeding methods to improve pig health and performance. In general, dietary factors provide bioavailable nutrients and/or affect physiological activity to modify the physiological condition, immune system, or microbial population of pigs to improve their performance and health. Thus, it is suggested that dietary factors may be important components in the growth and health management of pigs. Using an alternative grain feed such as rice, barley, and oats, low protein diets or low-high energy diets can be used as solutions to manage the effect of stress factors that cause growth and health problems at specific time points during the stages of pig production. Several studies support that these alternative feeds and dietary factors may improve pig growth and health by changes in intestinal conditions, immunity, or other physiological conditions compared with typical feed ingredients and diet management in pig production. Therefore, feed ingredients, low protein levels, and different energy contents in swine diets were reviewed to better understand how these dietary factors can contribute to improved pig performance and health under different physiological conditions.

Background Physical and chemical properties of feedstuffs can be changed by feed processing. Moreover, through various mechanisms, feed processing can affect growth performance and feed efficiency of swine, nutrition value of the feed. Weaning-to service-intervals (WSI), subsequent farrowing rates, and total-born litter sizes were determined by feed intake and metabolic state during lactation. Methods A total of 20 sows (Landrace × Yorkshire) with an average body weight (BW) of 266.1 kg 4 d before farrowing were used to determine the effect of feed processing on the performance of lactating sows and their offspring. The following two dietary treatments were used: 1) Crumble diet (C); and 2) Mash diet (M). Ten replications were used for each treatment. Back fat thickness of sows was measured 6 cm off the midline at the 10th rib using a real-time ultrasound instrument at 4 d before farrowing, 1 d after farrowing, and during weaning. Sow BW were also checked at 4 d before farrowing, 1 d after farrowing, and during weaning. Fecal score of sows were assessed on d 14. Fecal score of piglets were observed on d 7, 15, and 24. Data were analyzed using t-test procedure of SAS (2014) with sow as experimental unit. Results No significant (p > 0.05) difference was observed in the reproduction performance of sows between the two treatments. In addition, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the growth performance of piglets between the two treatments. Fecal score of sows or piglets showed no significant (p > 0.05) difference either. Conclusions In conclusion, different feed processing (mash or crumble) did not make any significant difference on the performance of lactation sow or their piglets.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH disease virus (FMDV), a member of the Picornaviridae family, causes foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) of cloven-hoofed animals. It is characterised by vesicles in the hoofs, mouth, tongue and nipples (Alexandersen and others 2003, Alexandersen and Mowat 2005). Since FMD is highly contagious and spreads rapidly, control of FMD is very challenging and requires a combination of strategies including detection and elimination of infected animals (Bachrach 1968, Paton and others 2014). While early detection and culling of infected and susceptible animals on the infected premises are pivotal ways to eradicate FMD, vaccination has also been an effective measure to control the spread of FMD (Lombard and others 2007, Elnekave and others 2013, Naranjo and Cosivi 2013, Saeed and others 2015). Vaccinations of cloven-hoofed animals with O1 Manisa have been implemented after a severe outbreak of FMD occurred in South Korea in 2010. Recently, a trivalent vaccine composed of O1 Manisa, A Malaysia 97 and Asia1 Shamir has been used in South Korea (Yoon and others 2012, Park 2013). Vaccination against FMDV reduced the incidence of FMD outbreaks in South Korea. Nonetheless, several side effects including fever, pain, anorexia, lethargy and temporary decrease in milk production and growth rate have been reported among the vaccinated animals in South Korea and other countries (Kaaden and others 1971, Yeruham and others 2001, Park 2013). However, there is limited information of how to improve the FMD vaccination side effects on the …

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of palm kernel expellers on productive performance, nutrient digestibility, and changes in white blood cells (WBC) of lactating sows. A total of 14 sows (200±12 kg of average body weight (BW); 2.5 of average parity) were used and moved from gestation room to farrowing room on d 109 of gestation. Sows were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The treatments were a diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON added with 20% of palm kernel expellers (PKE). Sows were fed the treatments for 28 days (weaning) after farrowing. Blood was collected from each sow and 4 randomly selected piglets from each sow before farrowing or on d 3, 7, or 14 of lactation. Sows were fed respective treatments containing 0.2% chromic oxide from d 15 to 21 of lactation. Fecal samples were collected daily for the last 3 days after the 4-d adjustment period. Measurements were performances and WBC changes of sows and litter, nutrient digestibility of sows, and daily diarrhea of litter. Sows fed PKE had greater average daily feed intake (7.38 vs 7.10 kg/d; p