Zinc Glycinate as an alternative source to zinc oxide in diets for nursery piglets

• Grant number: 23/08227-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Cesar Augusto Pospissil Garbossa
• Grantee: Cecília Archangelo Ferreira de Melo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of antimicrobials as performance enhancing is questioned due to bacterial resistance, and it is necessary to seek new technologies to replace them and meet the demand for efficiency in swine production. In this sense, the present work aims to evaluate the effect of zinc glycinate as performance enhancer for nursery piglets. The hypothesis is that animals that receive diets supplemented with zinc glycinate have better performance and health compared to non-supplemented animals. The experiment will be conducted in the Swine Research Laboratory (LPS/USP) in Pirassununga-SP. Are going to be used 160 piglets aged and weighing approximately 21 days and 5.8 kg, respectively. Each pen will be considered the experimental unit, containing four (4) animals, being blocked according to initial weight and sex. Five (5) treatments will be used, totaling eight (8) replications per treatment. The five (5) treatments will be: positive control (diet with inclusion of zinc oxide as a performance enhancer); negative control (diet without inclusion of performance enhancer); and three diets with different inclusions of the zinc glycinate (3000, 2000, 1000 mg/kg of diet). By weighing the animals, the feed provided and the leftovers, the average daily weight gain (GPD), the average daily feed intake (CRD) and average feed conversion (CA) will be calculated for performance evaluation. Daily fecal score analysis will be performed in the stalls. At the end of the experiment, evaluations of digestibility, histology, microbiome, intestinal permeability, cytokines, and the economic analysis, evaluating the economic feasibility of using the additive.