Table 4.
Effects of dietary benzoic acid, Bacillus coagulans and oregano oil combined supplementation on growth performance and diarrhea incidence of weaned piglets.
| Item | NC | PC | AB | AO | ABO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial BW, kg | 7.61 ± 0.16 | 7.63 ± 0.18 | 7.70 ± 0.16 | 7.64 ± 0.22 | 7.66 ± 0.20 |
| Final BW, kg | 14.20 ± 0.77a | 15.32 ± 0.39ab | 16.42 ± 0.62b | 16.04 ± 0.77ab | 15.96 ± 0.81ab |
| ADFI, g | 436.59 ± 29.65 | 472.76 ± 23.25 | 515.14 ± 35.24 | 515.85 ± 38.76 | 522.17 ± 43.56 |
| ADG, g | 253.46 ± 25.84a | 295.77 ± 12.36ab | 335.38 ± 19.38b | 323.08 ± 25.19ab | 319.23 ± 28.82ab |
| F:G | 1.76 ± 0.09b | 1.60 ± 0.04ab | 1.54 ± 0.05a | 1.60 ± 0.05ab | 1.64 ± 0.07ab |
| Diarrhea incidence, % | 9.23 | 8.46 | 6.15 | 3.08 | 5.38 |
NC = negative control, a corn-soybean basal diet; PC = positive control, NC + colistin sulfate at 20 g/t + bacitracin zinc at 40 g/t; AB = NC + benzoic acid at 3,000 g/t + Bacillus coagulans at 400 g/t; AO = NC + benzoic acid at 3,000 g/t + oregano oil at 400 g/t; ABO = NC + benzoic acid at 3,000 g/t + Bacillus coagulans at 400 g/t + oregano oil at 400 g/t; BW = body weight; ADFI = average daily feed intake; ADG = average daily gain; F:G = the ratio of feed intake to gain.
a, b Within a row, values with different letter superscripts mean significant difference (P < 0.05).