Cellulase supplementation benefits performance and apparent faecal digestibility of dietary components in lactating sows and their piglets

摘要

During lactation, the demands of milk production and limited nutrient intake can cause catabolic conditions (Kim and Easter 2003). The fibre component of sows' diet is recognised to add an important source of energy to pregnant sows because it is processed through microbial fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract (Schoknecht 1997). However, monogastric animals do not have the enzymes to hydrolysc the dietary fibre contents. Thus, supplementation of exogenous enzyme is necessary to optimise nutrient utilisation. It was hypothesised that a corn-soybean meal based diet, containing high fiber byproducts when supplemented with cellulase, could improve feed intake, nutrient digestibility and reduce backfat loss in lactating pigs and improve performance in their litters.