PSIII-20 - Impact of EnduraPig™ on Performance of PRRSV-Negative growing-finishing pigs

Abstract: A total of 479 weaned pigs (PIC Camborough × PIC 337; initial body weight, BW = 26.8 kg; Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, PRRSV-negative) were used to evaluate the effects of EnduraPig™ (EP; PMI Additives), a patent-pending feed additive that has been designed to support health, performance, and immune function of pigs, on growth performance of growing-finishing pigs. Pigs were blocked by initial BW and gender and assigned to 48 pens, which were allotted to one of 4 dietary treatments (12 pens/treatment, 9-10 pigs/pen), including T1) Control, T2) EnduraPig™ 0.1% (EP low), T3) EnduraPig™ 0.2% (EP medium), and T4) EP 0.3% (EP high). The EnduraPig™ inclusion levels were reduced by ½ when pigs reached approximately 70 kg BW (day 42). A five-phase feeding program was used with all diets formulated on a corn-DDGS-soybean meal basis to meet the nutrient requirements of growing-finishing pigs. Analysis of variance for growth measures was performed using the MIXED Procedure of SAS (SAS 9.4), and polynomial contrasts were used to evaluate linear, quadratic, and cubic effects of the EP levels. Significant differences were declared at P≤0.05 and trends at P≤ 0.10. During d 0-72, feeding EP tended to improve ADG (0.96, 0.97, 1.00, and 0.97 kg, respectively; cubic, P=0.06) with the greatest ADG observed in EP medium. During d 72 to market, feeding EP increased ADG (1.13, 1.14, 1.18, and 1.17 kg, respectively; linear, P=0.02), ADFI (3.48, 3.42, 3.55, and 3.49, respectively; cubic, P=0.02) and feed:gain (3.08, 3.00, 3.01, and 2.98, respectively; linear, P=0.10). Overall (d 0-market), feeding EP enhanced ADG (1.02, 1.02, 1.05, and 1.03 kg, respectively; linear, quadratic, and cubic, P=0.04, 0.09, 0.01), with the greatest ADG observed in EP medium resulting in a 4.0 kg greater market BW compared to the control (128.9, 129.2, 132.9, and 130.5, respectively; linear and cubic, P< 0.05). In addition, feeding EP numerically improved feed:gain (2.51, 2.48, 2.48, and 2.48, respectively; linear, P=0.14). With respect to BW variation, feeding EP reduced the standard deviation in market BW (10.65, 8.06, 8.86, and 9.54 kg, respectively; quadratic, P< 0.05), with the greatest reduction from EP low and EP medium (by 24 and 17%, respectively) compared to the control. In summary, data from this study indicate that feeding EnduraPig^TM at 0.2% from 27 kg to 70 kg BW and 0.1% from 70 to market improves growth performance and reduces BW variation of PRRSV-negative growing-finishing pigs.