Table 3.

Effect of dietary addition of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) on nursery pig growth performance¹

Item	Added MCFA, %2
		C6:0:C8:0:C10:03				C6:0	C8:0	C10:0		Probability, P
	0	0.25	0.5	1.0	1.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	SEM	Linear4	Quadratic4	C6:0 vs. control	C8:0 vs. control	C10:0 vs. control
BW, kg
Day 0	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7	0.07	0.605	0.641	1.000	1.000	1.000
Day 14	10.3	10.6	10.8	11.0	11.2	10.8	11.1	10.5	0.22	<0.001	0.359	0.178	0.009	1.000
Day 35	21.5	22.0	22.7	22.8	23.2	22.5	22.8	22.2	0.34	<0.001	0.177	0.194	0.033	0.798
Days 0 to 14
ADG, g	255	275	294	305	323	297	314	269	12.9	<0.001	0.376	0.105	0.007	1.000
ADFI, g	331	333	343	365	376	353	373	325	13.9	0.003	0.994	1.000	0.138	1.000
G:F	0.77	0.83	0.86	0.83	0.86	0.84	0.84	0.82	0.014	<0.001	0.021	0.004	0.003	0.044
Days 14 to 35
ADG, g	536	544	566	565	572	553	553	555	10.1	0.007	0.245	1.000	1.000	1.000
ADFI, g	829	814	842	868	855	837	834	834	16.8	0.052	0.513	1.000	1.000	1.000
G:F	0.65	0.67	0.67	0.65	0.67	0.66	0.66	0.67	0.008	0.367	0.503	1.000	0.811	0.497
Days 0 to 35
ADG, g	423	436	457	461	472	451	457	441	9.1	<0.001	0.187	0.159	0.038	0.927
ADFI, g	630	621	642	667	664	644	649	630	14.1	0.010	0.625	1.000	1.000	1.000
G:F	0.67	0.70	0.71	0.69	0.71	0.70	0.70	0.70	0.007	0.004	0.096	0.019	0.005	0.024
Feed PEDV Ct5,6
0 dpi	27.1	29.5	30.9	30.6	32.4	29.7	30.0	28.7	0.27	<0.001	0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.003
3 dpi	28.3	28.3	29.9	30.9	32.1	30.5	29.5	29.9		<0.001	0.745	<0.001	0.061	0.004

¹A total of 360 pigs [DNA 400 × 200 (Columbus, NE); initial BW = 6.7 ± 0.07 kg] were fed for 35 d in a 2-phase feeding program with 5 pigs per pen and 9 pens per treatment. Bonferroni multiple comparison adjustments were applied to contrasts comparing 0.5% inclusion of individual MCFA compared with control and 0.5% inclusion of individual MCFA compared with 0.5% MCFA blend for all response variables.

²Sigma–Aldrich (St. Louis, MO).

³Consisted of a 1:1:1 blend of C6:0, C8:0, and C10:0.

⁴Linear and quadratic contrast statements include control and treatments fed 1:1:1 blend of MCFA.

⁵Each number is the mean of 3 samples of the 11 to 23 kg diet that were inoculated with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) 40 d following feed manufacturing with a calculated final titer of 10⁴ TCID₅₀/g feed. On 2 sampling days post-inoculation [dpi; day of inoculation (0 dpi) and 3 dpi], separate samples were analyzed for the presence of PEDV genetic material using qRT-PCR. Three bottles containing swine feed were not inoculated with PEDV as a negative control and analyzed on day 0, and qRT-PCR analysis did not detect genetic material using a threshold cutoff value of 45 cycles. A higher Ct value indicates a greater amount of PEDV genetic material present in the original sample. SEM representative for entire qRT-PCR analysis.

⁶Treatment × day, P < 0.001; Quadratic inclusion of MCFA blend × day, P = 0.023; 0 dpi C6:0 vs. 0.5% 1:1:1 and 0.5% C10:0 vs. 0.5% 1:1:1, P ≤ 0.047. SEM represents both 0 and 3 dpi.