Impact of Dietary Supplementation of Fermented Rapeseed with or without Macroalgae on Performance and Health of Piglets Following Omission of Medicinal Zinc from Weaner Diets.

The feeding of medicinal zinc oxide (ZnO) to weaner piglets will be phased out after 2022 in Europe, leaving pig producers without options to manage post-weaning disorders. This study assessed whether rapeseed meal, fermented alone (FRM) or co-fermented with a single (; FRMA), or two ( and ; FRMAS) brown macroalagae species, could improve weaner piglet performance and stimulate intestinal development as well as maturation of gut microbiota in the absence of in-feed zinc. Weaned piglets (n = 1240) were fed, during 28-85 days of age, a basal diet with no additives (negative control; NC), 2500 ppm in-feed ZnO (positive control; PC), FRM, FRMA or FRMAS.

Morphology of the large intestine of the pig: haustra versus taenia.

The aim of the present study was to compare the morphological characteristics of the taenia and haustra of the large intestine in pigs. Ten pigs were fed a barley/wheat-based diet for a period of five weeks. Tissue samples were taken from the cecum and the proximal part of the colon at slaughter and processed histologically for determination of crypt volume, depth and density of the crypts, thickness of muscularis externa, and carbohydrate histochemistry.