Investigation of supplementation with a combination of fermented bean dregs and wheat bran for improving the growth performance of the sow

Junze Liu¹, Kai Wang¹, Liangyu Zhao¹, Yansen Li¹, Zhaojian Li¹, Chunmei Li¹^,^*

¹Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.

^*Corresponding Author: Chunmei Li, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China. E-mail: chunmeili@njau.edu.cn.

© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Oct 17, 2022; Revised: Nov 14, 2022; Accepted: Jan 27, 2023

Published Online: Feb 09, 2023

Abstract

To investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with a fermented mixture of bean dregs and wheat bran (FBW) on sow performance. FBW was given to sows during late gestation and lactation; in total, 24 sows were randomly assigned to 4 groups (control diet; 3% FBW diet; 6% FBW diet; 9% FBW diet, n=6). The weight ratio of bean dregs (wet) to wheat bran was 4:6. Sows were fed different diets from 85 d of gestation until weaning. The results showed that supplementation with FBW increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) during lactation (<italic>p </italic>< 0.05). FBW supplementation also increased litter weight and milk yield (<italic>p </italic>< 0.05). The contents of <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> in the feces of the treatment groups were significantly reduced by FBW supplementation (<italic>p</italic> < 0.01). FBW supplementation significantly improved the fecal morphology (<italic>p </italic>< 0.05), alleviating sows' constipation. In conclusion, FBW could increase the ADFI, improve lactation and piglet litter weight in sows and reduce the pathogenic bacterial content in sow feces and constipation.

Keywords: Fermented mixture of bean dregs and wheat bran; Metabolite; Sow; Piglet growth