How much lactose for piglet diets?
Mavromichalis, I. (2006) Pig International, October: 23-25
13-Dec-2007 (18 years 5 months 23 days ago)During the first and second weeks after weaning the piglets respond positively
to the inclusion of dairy products in the diets, response that may be attributed
to the lactose fraction. Lactose when fed to high levels may exert its laxative
effect, which on its own may not necessarily disturb the health of the piglet,
but it may favour the presentation of digestive pathogens under certain circumstances.
On the other hand, piglets raised under high health conditions may be able to
utilise high content of lactose without presentation of gastrointestinal disturbances.
Therefore, the quantity of lactose that must be present in the diet to obtain
a satisfactory level of performance is the question that must be answered.
In this document are presented some results obtained from a series of works that permit to determine general concepts. First concept to keep in mind is that high dietary concentrations of lactose are mostly beneficial right after weaning, being the benefit of the inclusion very low at 10-12 Kg of body weight. Content of lactose in the diet may vary depending on the production system considered. When considering piglets raised under above-average, unlikely to be susceptible to general pathogenic infections, the content of lactose will vary basically on the cost-benefit that it represents and also considering the health conditions; low cost production systems will inevitably determine low lactose contents. On the other hand, highest contents of lactose will only be possible under high-health conditions, when it might determine high performance in the piglets. In the case of situations in which piglets are being raised under below average conditions usually do not include more than 5-10% of lactose. Finally it is said that the optimal concentration of lactose in the diet may be determined by the feed intake of the animals, when high feed intake is presented the levels of lactose in the diet can be lower.
In this document are presented some results obtained from a series of works that permit to determine general concepts. First concept to keep in mind is that high dietary concentrations of lactose are mostly beneficial right after weaning, being the benefit of the inclusion very low at 10-12 Kg of body weight. Content of lactose in the diet may vary depending on the production system considered. When considering piglets raised under above-average, unlikely to be susceptible to general pathogenic infections, the content of lactose will vary basically on the cost-benefit that it represents and also considering the health conditions; low cost production systems will inevitably determine low lactose contents. On the other hand, highest contents of lactose will only be possible under high-health conditions, when it might determine high performance in the piglets. In the case of situations in which piglets are being raised under below average conditions usually do not include more than 5-10% of lactose. Finally it is said that the optimal concentration of lactose in the diet may be determined by the feed intake of the animals, when high feed intake is presented the levels of lactose in the diet can be lower.