University of Minnesota swine nutritionists are studying whether distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) can effectively treat ileitis.
To date, results have been positive, but the evidence is not ironclad. Researchers hope to prove, one way or another, whether high levels of insoluble fiber in DDGS alleviate the clinical effects of ileitis. Anecdotal evidence in the field suggests that adding the ethanol co-product to grow-finish diets improves a pig's ability to resist or recover from ileitis outbreaks.
Experiment 2 used a 10% DDGS level and an ileitis challenge level similar to exposure in commercial finishers. Researchers also compared DDGS diets to those containing antibiotics used to treat ileitis.
The 100 crossbred pigs were weaned at 17 days, allotted by sex and weight to one of five treatments and housed in isolation rooms. Pigs were fed either a corn-soybean meal diet or a corn-soybean meal-DDGS diet, with or without antibiotics. The antibiotic regimen consisted of continuous bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) at 30 g./ton of mixed feed, along with pulsing of chlortetracycline at 500 g./ton from Day 3 pre-challenge to Day 11 post-challenge.
Lesion data at necropsy was a primary response criteria to evaluating the results, which showed:
•Feeding the 10% DDGS diet appeared to reduce lesion length, severity and percentage of pigs exhibiting lesions in the ileum and colon.
•Antibiotic treatment reduced severity and length of lesions and percentage of pigs exhibiting lesions in the jejunum.
•Although the combination of DDGS and antibiotic regimen appeared to affect fecal shedding 14 days post-challenge, there were no dietary effects on shedding by 20 days post-challenge, and immuno-histochemistry (IHC) indicated no dietary effect on pigs testing positive.
•IHC scores did indicate a positive effect of DDGS and antibiotic regimen on severity of infection.