Effects of titrated levels of water soluble zinc amino acid complex on growth performance of nursery pigs

• Published in: Journal of animal science 2019-07, Vol.97, p.82-82
• Main Authors: Aparachita, Pornpim, Carter, Scott, Sawyer, Afton, Harshman, Jared, Rambo, Zach, Ward, Terry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Amino acids; Corn; Diet; Dietary supplements; Drinking water; Feeders; Physical growth; Polynomials; Soybeans; Water chemistry; Water meters; Water treatment; Zinc; Zinc oxide
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163

Previously, we reported that supplementing a water soluble zinc via drinking water (0 to 80 mg/L) to nursery pigs improved ADG and G:F. To evaluate the efficacy of higher titrated levels of this water soluble zinc amino acid complex (ProPath®Zn LQ, Zinpro Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN) on growth performance, 280 crossbred pigs (5.5 kg BW; 19 d of age) were randomly allotted to four water treatments (7 pens/treatment; 10 pigs/pen). The water treatments were 0, 40, 80 and 160 mg Zn/L of water. Pigs were fed in 4 dietary phases with complex, nutrient-dense, corn-soybean mealbased diets: Phase 1 and 2 (2,500 and 1,750 mg Zn as ZnO/kg; d 1-7 and 7-14, respectively) and Phase 3 and 4 (200 mg Cu as CuSO4/kg; d 14-23 and 23-42, respectively). Pigs and feeders were weighed weekly to determine ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Water meters were used to record and calculate water disappearance and zinc intake. Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design. Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were used to determine linear and curvilinear effects. Water and total zinc intake increased linearly (P < 0.001) with increasing water zinc concentration. From d 0-14 when high dietary zinc was fed, there were no differences (P > 0.10) in ADG, ADFI, or G:F. However, from d 14-42 when basal levels of zinc were fed, quadratic improvements in ADG (0.545, 0.561, 0.578, 0.546 kg; P < 0.05) and G:F (0.686, 0.706, 0.723, 0.702; P < 0.01) were observed with increasing zinc via water. Similarly for d 0-42, ADG (0.435, 0.440, 0.454; 0.434 kg; P = 0.07), G:F (0.726, 0.740, 0.763, 0.749; P = 0.05) and average ending wt (23.73, 23.97, 24.55, 23.70 kg; P = 0.07) improved quadratically with increasing zinc. In conclusion, supplementing ProPath®Zn LQ via water resulted in improvements in ADG and G:F for nursery pigs.