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Effect of Long-Term Feeding of Graded Levels of Deoxynivalenol to Grower-Finisher Pigs

Date

2020-11-25

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

ORCID

Type

Thesis

Degree Level

Masters

Abstract

The prevalence of deoxynivalenol (DON) concerns swine producers in Western Canada. There has been extensive research into the effects of DON in pigs, much of which targets young animals and/or in short-term studies. The objectives of this thesis were to determine the effects of long-term exposure to DON-contaminated diets on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and health in finisher (Exp. 1) and grower-finisher (Exp. 2) pigs. In experiment 1, 200 pigs were housed in groups of 5 pigs/pen (n=10 pens/treatment) for a 6-wk feeding trial. In experiment 2, 240 pigs housed in groups of 6 pigs/pen (n=10 pens/treatment) were used in an 11-wk feeding trial. Pigs were fed a control diet without DON (CONT) or the basal diet with 1, 3, or 5 ppm DON (DON1, DON3, and DON5, respectively). Weekly pig BW and pen-wise feed intake was recorded to determine average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed efficiency (G:F). Blood samples were collected on d 0, 14, and 42 for Exp. 1 and d 0, 14, and 42 and on d 42, 56, and 84 for Exp. 2. Serum was analyzed for liver and kidney health and immune response to a vaccine challenge. Carcass data was collected at the end of Exp. 2. In both studies, nitrogen (N)-balance was conducted to determine the effect of DON on N-utilization. In Exp. 1, pigs fed DON3 and DON5 had consistently reduced (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG from d 0-28 compared to CONT and DON1, after which there was no effect (P > 0.05) on ADFI, ADG, and G:F. N-retention was reduced (P < 0.05) in DON3 and DON5 pigs. In Exp. 2, DON3 and DON5 diets reduced ADG (P < 0.05) during the grower phase and the overall experimental period compared to CONT-fed pigs. There was no treatment effect on ADG in the finisher phase (P > 0.05) but ADFI during the first week was lower (P < 0.05) in DON3 and DON5-fed pigs compared to CONT and DON1. Compared to CONT, ADFI in the finisher phase and overall was lower (P < 0.05) in DON-fed pigs compared to CONT. For both phases, there was no DON effect (P > 0.05) on G:F. Finisher N-balance results showed no impact of DON intake on N-retention (P > 0.05), however, N-retention was reduced in the grower pigs fed DON3 and DON5 diets (P < 0.05) compared to CONT. There were no treatment effects (P > 0.05) on carcass traits, health, or immune response. The lack of effect on G:F suggests negative effects of DON on growth performance are largely due to impaired feed intake. Overall, the performance was less affected in the grower-finisher study relative to the finisher study. Further, regardless of age, there was evidence that pigs can adapt to DON over the long-term. This information will allow producers to adjust feeding programs to account for reduced performance due to dietary DON.

Description

Keywords

average daily gain, average daily feed intake, Deoxynivalenol, feed efficiency, nitrogen balance, Pig

Citation

Degree

Master of Science (M.Sc.)

Department

Animal and Poultry Science

Program

Animal Science

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DOI

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