1. Different Physiochemical Properties of Novel Fibre Sources in the Diet of Weaned Pigs Influence Animal Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Caecal Fermentation.
- Author
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Rybicka, Agnieszka, Medel, Pedro, Gómez, Emilio, Carro, María Dolores, and García, Javier
- Subjects
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ANIMAL weaning , *PIGLETS , *LIGNOCELLULOSE , *FIBERS , *CHICORY , *ALMOND - Abstract
Simple Summary: Dietary fibre was once considered to be a negative factor for monogastric animals due to its potential adverse effects on digestibility and performance. Recently, certain types of fibre have been proposed as an effective nutritional approach to maintaining piglets' gastrointestinal health after weaning. However, the relationships between the complex fibre properties of different sources and their physiological effects remain unclear. This research had a dual purpose. Firstly, to evaluate the use of novel fibre sources in piglet feed, such as almond shell, olive kernel, and nutshell, which are very finely ground fibre sources typically unsuitable as dietary ingredients due to their hardness and particle size. Secondly, to assess the impact of their physicochemical properties, such as fermentability and hydration properties, on piglet performance compared with lignocellulose, the most commonly used fibre source. Overall, these results highlight the importance of the physicochemical characteristics of fibre sources, suggesting that a combination of insoluble fibre with a prebiotic fermentable fraction, having medium hydration properties, may improve performance in weaned piglets. The effect of including micronised fibre sources (FS) differing in fermentability and hydration capacity (HC) on growth performance, faecal digestibility, and caecal fermentation was investigated in piglets. There were four dietary treatments: a control diet (CON) and three treatments differing in the HC and fermentability of FS added at 1.5% to prestarter (28–42 d) and starter (42–61 d) diets. These were: LHC (low-HC by-product-based insoluble fibre (IF) with a prebiotic fraction (PF) from chicory root); MHC (medium-HC by-product-based IF with a PF); and HHC (high-HC non-fermentable wood-based IF with no PF). There were eight replicates per treatment. Over the entire period, LHC and MHC piglets showed a 10% increase in daily growth and feed intake (p ≤ 0.019) and tended to have a reduced feed conversion ratio (p = 0.087) compared to HHC piglets. At 42 d, faecal protein digestibility increased by 5% in the LHC and MHC groups compared with the HHC group (p = 0.035) and did not differ from the CON group. Both LHC and MHC fibres were more fermented in vitro with caecal inocula from 61 d old piglets than HHC fibre (p ≤ 0.003). These results suggest that balanced soluble and insoluble fibre concentrates can improve piglet performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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