Plant extracts were considered as natural resources to alleviate weaning stress in pig production. A 28-day study (Phase 1: d 0-14 and Phase 2: d 15-28) was conducted to investigate the effects of compound of hawthorn and yam extracts on growth performance, intestinal health, and immune function in weaned pigs. A total of 144 weaned pigs with average body weight (BW) of 7.89 ± 1.09 kg were assigned to three treatments with six replicates pens by BW and sex. Dietary treatments included negative control (NC), corn-soybean meal basal diet; positive control (PC), NC + 0.08% enzyme preparations and 0.3% acidifiers; and CHY, NC + 0.3% compound of hawthorn and yam extracts. Compared with NC-fed pigs, pigs fed CHY had greater (p < 0.05) growth performance in Phase 1. The CHY-fed pigs had greater (p < 0.05) activities of duodenal lipase, trypsin, and greater (p < 0.05) serum concentrations of total antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase. The CHY-fed pigs had improved (p < 0.05) jejunal morphology and greater (p < 0.05) ileac valeric acid and colonic propionic acid, isobutyric acid concentrations than NC- and PC-fed pigs. In conclusion, CHY can improve growth performance and is a promising additive in weaned pig diets.
Keywords: growth performance; immunity; intestinal health; plant extracts; weaned pigs.
© 2022 Japanese Society of Animal Science.