Table 4.
Growth performance of post-weaning piglets fed seaweed (SW).
| Sow Diets (SD) Piglet Diets (PD) * |
CR | LR | SEM 1 | p-Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CT | SW | CT | SW | SD | PD | SD × PD | ||
| No. of piglets ** | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||
| BW 2 (kg) | ||||||||
| d 0 | 6.19 | 6.19 | 6.66 | 6.36 | 0.55 | ns 4 | ns | ns |
| d 7 | 6.86 | 7.21 | 7.58 | 6.89 | 0.59 | ns | ns | ns |
| d 15 | 9.56 | 10.72 | 10.62 | 9.32 | 0.98 | ns | ns | 0.018 |
| d 21 | 12.41 b | 14.14 a | 13.64 | 12.13 | 1.17 | ns | ns | 0.010 |
| ADG 2 (g/d) | ||||||||
| d 0 to 7 | 51.86 | 101.30 | 157.50 | 100.20 | 62.74 | ns | ns | ns |
| d 0 to 15 | 202.76 | 279.59 | 275.82 | 211.51 | 55.73 | ns | ns | 0.017 |
| d 0 to 21 | 276.15 b | 358.55 a | 345.63 | 289.71 | 52.20 | ns | ns | 0.013 |
| ADFI 2 (g/d) | ||||||||
| d 0 to 7 | 154.46 | 194.17 | 222.59 | 196.79 | 44.58 | ns | ns | ns |
| d 0 to 15 | 345.07 | 394.71 | 373.65 | 313.38 | 56.11 | ns | ns | ns |
| d 0 to 21 | 458.59 | 527.04 a | 474.17 a | 387.27 b | 55.81 | ns | ns | 0.009 |
| G:F 3 | ||||||||
| d 0 to 7 | 0.59 | 0.48 | 0.70 | 0.57 | 0.27 | ns | ns | ns |
| d 0 to 15 | 0.55 b | 0.75 a | 0.71 | 0.67 | 0.16 | ns | ns | 0.033 |
| d 0 to 21 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 0.70 | 0.70 | 0.08 | ns | ns | 0.050 |
CR: sow diet with ω6:ω3 ratio = 13:1 during gestation, starting from day 28 (G28) and 10:1 during lactation; LR: sow diet with ω6:ω3 ratio = 4:1 from G28 until the end of lactation. CT: post-weaning piglets’ diet supplemented without intact seaweed powder. SD: sow diets, PD: piglet diets. BW: body weight, ADG: average daily gain, ADFI: average daily feed intake, G:F: gain-to-feed ratio. * The trial was performed from weaning to day 21 of post-weaning with 4 g seaweed supplementation per kg of feed. Feed residual and daily feed intake of each piglet were recorded every morning, from day 0 (weaning) to day 21 post-weaning to calculate average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Individual body weight of piglets was measured on day 0, 7, 15 and 21 of post-weaning. ** Piglets were kept in individual pens (0.47 m2) with ad libitum feed and water. 1 SEM: Standard error of the means. a, b Means are presented as least square means. 2 have normal distribution so mixed procedure was performed. 3 do not have normal distribution so GENMOD procedure (using generalized estimating equations (GEE) method) was performed to fit the generalized linear models. 4 ns: not significant.