Influence of the form and level of copper and zinc supplementation on mineral status of grower and finisher pigs

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2005

Conference Title

Tenth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association

Place of Publication

Christchurch

ISBN

978-0-9806880-4-7

ISSN

1324-9177

Keywords

pigs, swine

Disciplines

Meat Science

Abstract

Organic forms of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) induce higher growth rates than inorganic forms. The higher growth rates of pigs fed organic Cu and Zn are thought to be because organic forms of the minerals are absorbed better than inorganic forms (Coffey et al., 1994) and that they may result in greater plasma mineral concentrations (Hahn and Baker, 1993) and/or higher organ mineral stores in pigs (Apgar et al., 1995). However, an effect of mineral form on these indices has not always been demonstrated (Wedekind et al., 1994). The aim of this experiment was to compare the effect of Cu and Zn fed in the form of Bioplex® or sulphate at two levels of dietary inclusion on the mineral status of growing and finishing pigs. The experiment was designed as a 2x2 factorial arrangement of treatments, with two mineral forms (organic and inorganic) and two inclusion levels (low and high). The study used 160 female pigs (Large White x Landrace) through the growing and finishing phases (25-107 kg live weight). The ‘low’ levels aimed to provide 25 ppm of Cu and 40 ppm of Zn per kg, while the ‘high’ levels aimed to provide 160 ppm of Cu and 160 ppm of Zn per kg. These levels were fed in diets formulated for the growing and finishing phases of growth. The mineral supplement incorporated in the diets contained Cu and Zn sulphate or Bioplex® Cu and Zn (Alltech Biotechnology P/L, Victoria, Australia) according to their required levels in each diet. Pigs were fed ad libitum. At 36 and 97 kg live weight (growing and finishing phases, respectively) blood samples were taken from a random sub-sample of four pigs per pen (five pens per treatment). At the end of the experiment the pigs were slaughtered as per commercial procedures, and one foretrotter per pig along with samples of liver and kidney were collected from the same pigs that blood was sampled from during the trial. Data were analysed by two-way analysis of variance.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS