Research Note: Relative bioavailability of zinc in zinc hydroxychloride for chicks.

A chick assay was conducted to determine the effects of Zn source on performance and to establish a Zn relative bioavailability value (RBV) for a new source of Zn hydroxychloride. In the assay, 8-day-old chicks were fed a Zn-deficient soy protein concentrate diet supplemented with 0, 7, and 15 mg Zn/kg from feed grade ZnSO monohydrate for 14 d to establish a standard response curve. The same basal diet was supplemented with 3, 7, and 10 mg Zn/kg from a new Zn hydroxychloride (SAMZn).

Bioefficacy of L-lysine sulfate compared with feed-grade L-lysine-HCl in young pigs.

A pig growth assay was conducted to determine the relative biological value (RBV) of lysine from L-lysine sulfate compared with feed-grade L-lysine HCl. One hundred nursery pigs with an average initial BW of 9.5 +/- 1.

Molecular ecological analysis of porcine ileal microbiota responses to antimicrobial growth promoters.

Cultivation-independent microbial molecular ecology approaches were used to examine the effects of antibiotic growth promoters on the pig ileal microbiota. Five-week-old barrows were fitted with a simple T-cannula at the distal ileum. Three diets meeting or exceeding the minimum nutrient requirements were fed for 5 wk and supplemented as follows: 1) negative control (no antibiotic; n = 5), 2) continuous tylosin administration (n = 5), and 3) an antibiotic rotation sequence (wk 1, chlorotetracycline sulfathiazole penicillin; wk 2, bacitracin and roxarsone; wk 3, lincomycin; wk 4, carbadox; wk 5, virginiamycin; n = 5).

Dietary galactooligosaccharides affect ileal and total-tract nutrient digestibility, ileal and fecal bacterial concentrations, and ileal fermentative characteristics of growing pigs.

The objective of this study was to evaluate dietary galactooligosaccharide (Gal OS) addition on swine nutrient digestibility, ileal and fecal bacterial populations, and ileal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, and to determine their impact on ileal fermentative characteristics in vitro. Twelve T-cannulated pigs (BW = 25 kg) were fed a diet free of Gal OS for 21 d. On d 22, ileal digesta samples were collected for an in vitro fermentation experiment (Exp.

In vitro fermentation characteristics of selected oligosaccharides by swine fecal microflora.

The objective of this study was to quantify the fermentation characteristics of oligosaccharides present in feed ingredients or isolated for dietary supplementation. Substrates studied included short-chain fructooligosaccharides, medium-chain fructooligosaccharides, long-chain fructooligosaccharides, raffinose, stachyose, soy solubles, granular and liquid forms of transgalactooligosaccharides, glucooligosaccharides, mannanoligosaccharides, and xylooligosaccharides. Three healthy pigs that had never received antibiotics served as sources of fecal inoculum.