Nucleotides in feed for weanling pigs

• Grant number: 10/11001-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2010
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Valdomiro Shigueru Miyada
• Grantee: Valdomiro Shigueru Miyada
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

One hundred and sixty pigs weaned at 21 days of age will be used with the purpose to evaluate the effects of dietary nucleotides on the performance, diarrhea incidence, organs morphometry, intestinal epithelium morphology and intestinal microbiology of the animals. The experimental design will be a randomized complete block with five treatments and eight replications (block) per treatment and four animals per experimental unit (two castrated males and two females). The treatments will be: C - basal diet with corn, soybean meal and milk products; Am - basal diet + 40 ppm of antimicrobial; Nu100 - basal diet + 100 ppm of nucleotides; Nu150 - basal diet + 150 ppm of nucleotides and Nu200 - basal diet + 200 ppm of nucleotides. The animals and the ration fed will be weighed at 1, 14 and 34 days of experimentation for performance data. For diarrhea incidence data will be given notes (score) daily in the morning. At the end of the experimental period, an animal per pen (experimental unit) will be slaughtered, after fasting for 14 hours, to evaluate the organs morphometry and intestinal epithelium morphology and the content of the jejunum/ileum and rectum for microbiological analysis of the piglets. (AU)