Feeding a low protein amino-acid supplemented diet after weaning reduces incidence of post-weaning diarrhoea

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2007

Conference Title

Eleventh Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association

Place of Publication

Brisbane

ISBN

978-0-9806880-5-4

ISSN

1324-9177

Keywords

pigs, swine

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Meat Science

Abstract

Post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD), a condition associated with proliferation of haemolytic strains of Escherichia coli in the small and large intestine, often occurs after weaning. Once attached to the small intestinal epithelium, these strains of E. coli can disrupt digestive and absorptive functions of the enterocytes by releasing both heat labile toxins (LT) and heat stable toxins (ST; variants STa and STb ) that are responsible for hypersecretory diarrhoea (Pluske et al., 2002). Numerous dietary strategies have been attempted to ameliorate the losses associated with PWD. Of these, feeding a lower-protein diet with supplementation of essential amino acids has been suggested because by-products of protein fermentation, such as ammonia and amines, are implicated in the aetiology of the condition (Aumaitre et al., 1995). However feeding a lower-protein diet after weaning is associated with reductions in performance (Nyachoti et al., 2006). In this study, we hypothesized that feeding a low protein diet for a short period of time after weaning would reduce PWD by reducing protein fermentation in the LI.

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