Effects Of Coated Zinc Oxide On Growth Performance And Diarrhea Index Of Weanling Piglets

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of coated zinc oxide(ZnO) encapsulated with stearic acid on growth performance and diarrhea of weanling piglets in the farm. A total of 96 crossbred(Duroc × Landrace ×Yorkshire) weaned piglets were allotted randomly, on weaning age(26±2 Days) and initial weight(about 7Kg), to four groups with 3 replicates per group and 8 pigs per replicate in a completely randomized design for 14 days. Groups consisted of a low control group fed basal diets without ZnO, a high control group fed 3000mg/kg ZnO of basal diet, two treatments fed 450 and 750mg/kg coated ZnO of basal diets, respectively. The results showed as follows: 1) Adding 3000mg/kg ZnO significantly enhanced growth performance(P<0.05) and decreased diarrhea(P<0.01), but the fecal Zn also increased significantly(P<0.01), the average daily gain and the average daily feed intake raised 79.04% and 31.07%, the ratio of feed to gain reduced 26.91% compared with the low control group. 2) Adding 450 mg/kg coated ZnO significantly decreased diarrhea index(P<0.01) compared with the low control group, but had no significant differences on growth performance(P>0.05). 3) Adding 750 mg/kg coated ZnO significantly enhanced growth performance(P<0.05) and decreased diarrhea(P<0.01) compared with the low control group, but had significant differences with the high control group(P<0.05). 4) Adding 450 and 750 mg/kg coated ZnO reduced fecal Zn significantly compared with the high control group(P<0.01). It implied that 750 mg/kg coated ZnO has the potential as an alternative to 3000mg/kg ZnO. Further experiment should be done to decide the best dosage of coated ZnO with the purpose of promoting growth performance of pigs and reducing environmental pollution.