I thought I’d do some research on piglets to see if I could shed more light on POH’s trial which has been assessing TPM as a feed additive for the improvement of feed efficiency and weight gain in weaner pigs. Results of that trial are due to be announced later this month. I was interested to see if there was research which supported POH’s hypothesis. The following are some points of interest that I found.
Newborn pigs are born with low levels of vitamin E which are subsequently boosted by the sows’ milk.
Weaned piglets suffer a sharp decline in serum vitamin E concentration, leading to increased oxidative status and higher susceptibility to disease.
In weaned piglets, , utilisation of standard vitamin E supplement (dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate) in feed is less than 10% during the 1st week following weaning, and only approx. 20-25% during the 2nd and 3rd week post-weaning. This results in critically low concentrations of serum vitamin E in weaner pigs.
It is believed that this standard form of vitamin E has restricted absorption, especially in young piglets with immature digestive systems.
Numerous trials have been conducted with the objective of minimising vitamin E decrease in weaned piglets and thereby improving immunity.
Most of these studies used high concentrations of standard vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate).
Despite high levels of supplementation of standard vitamin E, accumulation efficiency was limited and the serum vitamin E concentration after weaning still decreased.
In one study which compared piglets given dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate supplements with those given additional supplementation with a natural form of vitamin E, those which received the additional supplement had less decrease in serum vitamin E concentrations and also had improved immunity. Onset of diarrhoea in the group receiving additional supplementation with natural vitamin E was postponed by up to 6 days; diarrhoea was less severe and mortality was significantly reduced.
Diarrhoea in piglets has been found to be the factor with highest negative impact on weight gain (-47.25g/day/pig).
The research seems to support POH’s hypothesis, assuming that TPM can improve oral bioavailability of vitamin E. POH obviously thinks that it has a good chance because it will shortly publish a paper describing increased absorption of vitamin E after oral ingestion of TPM.
The company has estimated that achieving a 3-6% Live Weight Gain would justify a minimum of 3:1 ROI for Farmers (ie for each additional $1 spent, farmers would gain $3+ increase in animal and/or production value) at Phosphagenics’ present retail price for TPM.
I intend to follow up at some stage with research on the potential benefit of increased vitamin E levels on grower/finisher pigs and their meat quality.
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