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Probiotics have recently gained more interest, especially in swine production, as they can be beneficial as feed additives. Pigs fed a compound probiotic diet could have higher feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and lower incidence of diarrhea. Specifically, Lactobacillus lactis (LL) is effective as a growth promoter, anti-stress agent and immune enhancer. However, studies evaluating the effects of LL on growing-finishing pigs are limited. This study was conducted to assess the effect of supplementation with LL on growth performance, hematological parameters, meat quality and intestinal flora in pigs from growing until slaughter. For that purpose, a total of 72 growing pigs (30.46 ± 3.08 kg) were randomly assigned to 3 groups (including 3 pens for each group, with 8 pigs in each pen). The three treatments comprised a basal diet (O-0) and two experimental diets supplemented for 14 weeks with 0.01% (O-100) and 0.03% (O-300) LL, respectively.
As a result, the final body weights of the pigs in the O-100 and O-300 groups were significantly higher than those of the O-0 group. In the grower phase, the average daily weight gain and average daily feed intake of pigs fed the O-300 diet were higher than those of pigs fed the O-0 diet during the grower phase. BUN and MDA were significantly higher in the O-0 group than in the O-100 and O-300 groups during the grower phase. No difference was observed in the hematological parameters among the three groups during the finisher phase. Counts of LL in the stomach were significantly higher in the O-300 group than in the O-0 group. Counts of Escherichia coli in the jejunum were significantly higher in the O-0 group than in the O-300 group. Furthermore, the hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and resilience of longissimus dorsi muscle collected from pigs fed the O-300 diet were higher than those of tissue collected from pigs fed the O-0 diet.
To conclude, dietary Lactobacillus lactis supplementation increased final body weight, increased average daily gain in the grower phase and enhanced meat quality.
Duan H, Lu L, Zhang L, Li J, Gu X, Li J. Effects of Lactobacillus Lactis Supplementation on Growth Performance, Hematological Parameters, Meat Quality and Intestinal Flora in Growing-Finishing Pigs. Animals. 2023; 13(7): 1247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071247
