Table 3.
Effects of different forms of dietary zinc oxide on the growth performance and diarrhea score of weaned piglets (n = 20).
| Zn, Status and Level | CON | ZnO | Chelate -ZnO |
Nano -ZnO |
SE | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Items | 0 | 2500 | 200 | 200 | Trt | |
| Initial BW, kg | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 0.2 | 0.997 |
| 1 week BW, kg | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 0.2 | 0.978 |
| Final BW, kg | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.8 | 0.2 | 0.988 |
| 0 to 7 days | ||||||
| ADG, g | 153.6 | 142.9 | 139.3 | 142.9 | 20.2 | 0.958 |
| ADFI, g | 229.6 | 227.1 | 245.2 | 234.0 | 6.6 | 0.253 |
| G:F, g/g | 0.672 | 0.632 | 0.568 | 0.602 | 0.083 | 0.827 |
| Diarrhea score 1,x | 1.545 b | 2.454 a | 2.250 a | 2.242 a | 0.078 | 0.001 |
| 7 to 14 days | ||||||
| ADG, g | 201.4 a | 210.7 | 204.3 | 204.8 | 11.0 | 0.937 |
| ADFI, g | 297.5 | 297.1 | 300.0 | 300.0 | 1.7 | 0.492 |
| G:F, g/g | 0.677 | 0.710 | 0.681 | 0.683 | 0.038 | 0.918 |
| Diarrhea score 1,x,y,z,w | 1.958 c | 2.417 a | 1.833 c | 2.222 b | 0.052 | 0.001 |
| Overall period, 0 to 14 days |
||||||
| ADG, g | 177.5 | 176.8 | 171.8 | 173.8 | 12.0 | 0.984 |
| ADFI, g | 263.6 | 262.1 | 272.6 | 267.0 | 3.1 | 0.126 |
| G:F, g/g | 0.674 | 0.674 | 0.630 | 0.649 | 0.044 | 0.852 |
| Diarrhea score 1,x,y | 1.758 c | 2.435 a | 2.033 bc | 2.232 ab | 0.076 | 0.001 |
Abbreviation: CON, no additional added zinc oxide in diet (negative control); ZnO, CON + 2500 ppm zinc oxide (positive control); Chelate-ZnO, CON + zinc chelate; Nano-ZnO, CON + nanoparticle size of zinc; SE, standard error; BW, body weight; ADG, average daily gain; ADFI, average daily feed intake; G:F, feed efficiency; 1 Diarrhea score: Values are calculated by as the average diarrhea score for each period per group by summing the average daily diarrhea scores of each piglets. Diarrhea score was determined as follow: 0, diarrhea; 1, sloppy feces; 2, normal feces; and 3, well-formed feces. a,b,c Means within a row with different letters are significantly different at p < 0.05. x contrast: CON vs. other treatments (p < 0.05). y contrast: ZnO vs. chelate-ZnO (p < 0.05). z contrast: ZnO vs. nano-ZnO (p < 0.05). w contrast: chelate-ZnO vs. nano-ZnO (p < 0.05)