Dietary Supplementation of Organic Acids and Mannooligosaccharides for Finishing Pigs Under Sanitary Challenge Conditions

• Grant number: 24/20339-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Hauschild
• Grantee: Bárbara Thomazini Lopes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study intends to evaluate the dietary supplementation of a blend composed of organic acids and mannan oligosaccharides for finishing swine subjected to sanitary challenge conditions. A total of 24 immunocastrated male swine (initial weight ± 70 kg) will be evaluated over an experimental period of 24 days, divided into a pre-challenge period (-10 to 0 days) and a post-challenge period (1 to 14 days). The animals will be housed in a single facility equipped with an Automated Intelligent Precision Feeder system.On the first day of the pre-challenge period (day -10), the animals will be randomly selected and allocated to one of the treatments: Control Diet (CON; no supplementation) throughout the experimental period; Diet supplemented with a blend of organic acids and mannan oligosaccharides throughout the experimental period (SUPL); and CON diet during the pre-challenge period followed by SUPL diet post-challenge (CON/SUPL).On day 0, all animals will be challenged via oral inoculation with Salmonella Typhimurium (ST; 2x10^11 CFU) and maintained under suboptimal environmental conditions. The evaluated variables will include: performance, body composition (pre and post-challenge), rectal temperature, and fecal consistency (0 to 7 days post-challenge), fecal shedding of ST (days -10, 1, 3, 7, and 14), and serum concentration of acute phase proteins (days 0, 3, and 7 post-challenge).At the end of the experiment, all animals will be euthanized for the collection of tissue samples to assess the concentration of ST and morphological integrity. The implementation of this project will enable the development of nutritional strategies to mitigate the negative effects of sanitary challenges on the performance, health, and welfare of finishing swine.