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Title: THE EFFECT OF DIETARY PROTEIN ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND FECAL CONSISTENCY OF 9 TO 24 KG PIGS FOLLOWING AN ENTERIC CHALLENGE WITH K88 E. COLI

Author
item KENDALL, DUSTIN - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
item FENT, RUSSELL - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
item FU, SHUANGXI - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
item USRY, JAMES - AJINOMOTO HEARTLAND LLC
item Carroll, Jeffery - Jeff Carroll
item ALLEE, GARY - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2004
Publication Date: 7/23/2004
Citation: Kendall, D.C., Fent, R.W., Fu, S., Usry, J.L., Carroll, J.A., Allee, G.L. 2004. The effect of dietary protein on growth performance and fecal consistency of 9 to 24 kg pigs following an enteric challenge with k88 e. coli [abstract]. Journal of Animal Science. 82(1):138.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of dietary protein on growth performance and fecal consistency of 9 to 24 kg pigs following an enteric challenge with K88 E. coli. In Exp. 1, 96 barrows (10.2 kg; PIC C-23) were allotted by weight in a randomized complete block design and fed one of four dietary treatments with eight replications of three pigs per pen. Diets contained 25.5, 23.6, 21.8, and 20.1% CP, achieved by decreasing the level of soybean meal inclusion and increasing crystalline amino acid use while maintaining 1.32% TID Lys. Diets contained no growth promoting antibiotics or copper sulfate. Following a 7d acclimation period, pigs were enterally dosed with 3.95 x 10^8 CFU K88 E. coli. Fecal consistency was measured daily with subjective fecal scores (0-3) where 0 = normal, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, or 3 = severe diarrhea. In addition, fecal samples were collected on d 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 for moisture determination. From d 2 to 8, fecal scores (P< 0.003) and fecal moisture (P< 0.05) declined linearly with decreasing dietary protein (0.65, 0.45, 0.27, and 0.26 units; 74.3, 73.1, 72.6, and 72.3% moisture, respectively). For the 14 d following challenge, there was no effect of dietary treatment on growth performance. In Exp. 2, 188 barrows (9.0 kg; TR-4 X PIC C-22) were allotted by weight in a randomized complete block design and fed one of four dietary treatments with 10 replications of four or five pigs per pen. Dietary treatments and procedures were the same as Exp. 1. Fecal consistency was measured on a subset of pigs (n = 96) on d 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. For the first 7 d following challenge, fecal scores (P< 0.001) and fecal DM (P< 0.001) declined linearly with decreasing dietary protein (1.36, 1.07, 0.86, and 0.53 units; 80.8, 79.0, 77.4, and 74.5% moisture, respectively). Similar to Exp. 1, dietary treatment did not influence post-challenge growth performance of pigs. These experiments clearly demonstrate that dietary protein negatively influences fecal consistency, but does not affect growth performance during an enteric challenge.