Farmscape for August 14, 2024
| Full Interview 12:57 | Listen  |
Research coordinated by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is evaluating the prospects of displacing antibiotics and zinc oxide to protect piglets from diarrhea with vitamins. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in collaboration with CDPQ and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, is changing the diet of the sow to boost her ability to pass immunity to neonatal and postweaning diarrhea to her piglets. Hannah Burlet, a graduate student with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, explains it’s hoped that providing supplemental dietary vitamins along with a commercial vaccine to the sow will stimulate maternal antibody production.
Quote-Hannah Burlet-Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-Western College of Veterinary Medicine:
Vitamins were administered in the form of a standard vitamin premix distributed in feed with the diets supplied from just after artificial insemination until farrowing. We used two diets, the first a control diet based on NRC 2012 recommendations and the second a high vitamin diet based on an average 50 percent increase of industry standard vitamin levels based on a 2016 study by Flohr et al.
Along with vitamins we administered appropriate doses a commercial vaccine to stimulate maternal production of antibodies for pathogens of concern. This protocol was applied over two sequential gestational cycles to determine if there is any additive effects.
We will compare antibody levels from blood serum at breeding, before and after vaccination, from colostrum and from piglet blood serum on days two and 21 after birth.
We will also compare some performance measures like backfat thickness, piglets born alive, piglets weaned and piglet weight gain to see if there’s any difference on the whole animal level. I am currently working on analysing the sow and piglet performance data and the main portion of the lab work is projected be completed by October 2024.
Burlet notes the pressure reduce the use pf antibiotics and zinc oxide is mounting and vitamins offer a healthier alternative.
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