SUMMARY
  • Deaths attributed to common infections resistant to antimicrobials will be the biggest killer in both humans and animals worldwide by 2050 (The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2016).
  • This drives a need to Review, Reduce and Replace antibiotics Responsibly to help manage gut health and support healthier livestock through the use of natural products.
  • This trial showed that Orego-Stim® is able to support pig performance in an antibiotic free system, finishing more pigs at a heavier weight thereby improving profitability of the unit.
BACKGROUND
  • Orego-Stim® is a high quality eubiotic containing 100% natural oregano oil available in liquid or powder form.
  • Weaning is a particularly stressful time when optimum gut health and feed intake are essential for maximum lifetime performance.
  • Orego-Stim was fed post weaning to piglets at 250g/t and 500g/t, their performance was compared with a negative control group fed no antibiotics or performance enhancers.

 

TRIAL DESIGN

Anpario conducted a trial in growing piglets at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece. 144 piglets from weaning (21 days of age) were randomly allocated to one of three treatment diets for a duration of 136 days (until 161 days of age) and balanced for litter origin, gender and weight.  Treatments were: 1) NC: negative control (basal diet without any additives); 2) OS250: basal with 250g/t Orego-Stim included; and 3) OS500: basal with 500g/t Orego‑Stim included. Health and performance were monitored and all animals had access to feed and water ad‑libitum.

Differing letters denote significant difference between treatments (P<0.05)

RESULTS
  • Piglets fed inclusion levels of Orego-Stim® (250g/t and 500g/t) significantly outperformed the negative control piglets in average daily weight gain and final liveweight, resulting 10kg extra gain.
  • Overall feed conversion ratio (weaning to finish) was significantly improved in the Orego-Stim fed groups over the negative control with 3.03, 2.68 and 2.50 for the Negative Control, Orego-Stim 250g/t and Orego‑Stim 500g/t groups respectively.
  • Mortality was reduced in groups fed Orego-Stim at either inclusion and was significantly lower overall with 27.1%, 12.5% and 8.3% for the Negative Control, Orego-Stim 250g/t and Orego-Stim 500g/t groups respectively.