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The hypothesis tested in this study was that feeding a low protein diet supplemented with crystalline Ile and Val to maintain an ideal AA pattern would decrease the incidence of postweaning diarrhoea (PWD) without compromising growth. An experimental ETEC infection model was used to induce a moderate diarrhoea after weaning to elucidate wheter bacterial infection pressure interacts with dietary protein level.
A total of 72 female pigs weaned at 21 d of age were used. Two factors were used, 3 feeding regimens with different combinations of feeding duration and diet CP level (High protein diet fed for 14 d after weaning, low protein (LP) diet fed for 7 d after weaning and LP diet fed for 14 d after weaning) and infection or noninfection with an ETEC at 72, 96 and 120 h after weaning. A second-stage diet having intermediate protein content was fed to pigs until 4 weeks after weaning. Blood samples were collected. Feces from each pig were visually examined each morning for 2 wk after weaning to determine the incidence of PWD. Fecal shedding of β-hemolytic <i>E. coli</i> was assessed at arrival and then again on d 5, 7, 10, 12 and 14 after weaning.
Pigs fed LP had decreased (P<0.001) plasma urea nitrogen, fecal ammonia nitrogen concentrations and the incidence of PWD.Experimental ETEC infection increased the fecal hemolytic <i>E. coli</i> score assessed at d 5 and 7 for the entire 2-wk period after weaning (P<0.001). ETEC infection decreased (P<0.001) ADG and G:F in the 28-d period after weaning.
It is concluded that, a moderate <i>E. coli</i> challenge, feeding an LP diet with added crystalline Val and Ile for 7 d only after weaning reduced the incidence of PWD associated with reduced indices of protein fermentation and did not comprise the growth performance of pigs.
JM Heo, JC Kim, CF Hansen, BP Mullan, DJ Hampson and JR Pluske. Feeding a diet with decreased protein content reduces indices of protein fermentation and the incidence of postweaning diarrhea in weaned pigs challenged with an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli. 2009. Journal of Animal Science. 87:2833-2843. doi:10.2527/jas.2008-1274
