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There are conflicting results on the growth and health of weanling pigs fed high-fiber diets, and responses may differ according to sanitary conditions. This study was conducted to explore the growth, health, and fecal microbiota of weanling pigs fed either low- or high-fiber diets in 2 different sanitary conditions. Forty-eight pigs weaned at 28 d of age were individually housed in “good” (clean) or “poor” (unclean) sanitary conditions. During 2 consecutive phases, pigs were fed 2 diets containing a low (control) or high level of fiber, i.e., 121 or 169 g/kg total dietary fiber (TDF) for phase I and 146 or 217 g/kg for phase II, which lasted 15 and 20 d, respectively. This led to 4 experimental treatments in phase I following a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (2 sanitary conditions x 2 diets) and 8 experimental treatments in phase II in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement (2 x sanitary conditions x 2 diets in phase I x 2 diets in phase II).
The poor sanitary conditions led to a lower G:F (0.617 vs. 0.680 for poor and good sanitary conditions, respectively; P = 0.01) over the entire experimental period. The number of pigs with diarrhea in phase I tended to be greater in the poor sanitary conditions with the high-fiber diet than the control diet (7 vs. 3 pigs, P = 0.07). Enteroccocus was prominent in the feces of these diarrheic pigs. At 5 wk post-weaning, compared to good sanitary conditions, the fecal microbiota of pigs housed in poor sanitary conditions was characterized by more Lactobacillus (9.24 vs. 8.34 log CFU/g, P < 0.001), more Enterobacteria (6.69 vs. 5.58 log CFU/g, P < 0.001), and less anaerobic sulfite bacteria (3.72 vs. 5.87 log CFU/g; P < 0.001). The feces of pigs in poor sanitary conditions contained more total VFA and proportionally more butyrate (9.7 vs. 5.7% for poor and good conditions, respectively, independently of dietary treatment, P < 0.001). At 5 wk post-weaning, the feces of pigs fed the high-fiber diet during phase II contained less Enterococcus bacteria than pigs fed the control diet (4.06 vs. 4.56 log CFU/g; P = 0.05), and more total VFA with a lower proportion of branched-chain fatty acids (5.0 vs. 6.1%; P = 0.006).
To conclude, feeding pigs a high fiber diet in the immediate post-weaning period is probably an additional risk factor for slower weight gain, especially in poor sanitary conditions.
L Montagne, N Le Floc'h, M Arturo-Schaan, R Foret, MC Urdaci and M Le Gall. 2012. Comparative effects of level of dietary fiber and sanitary conditions on the growth and health of weanling pig. Journal of Animal Science, 90(8):2556-69. doi: 10.2527/jas.2011-4160.
