Growth performance of weanling pigs fed diets containing spray-dried bovine plasma or hydrolyzed spray-dried bovine plasma

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that dietary inclusion of enzymatically hydrolyzed spray-dried bovine plasma (H-SDBP) is as effective as non-hydrolyzed spray-dried bovine plasma (SDBP) for increasing growth performance of weanling pigs housed in uncleaned pens. A control diet based on corn, soybean meal, and 90 g/kg soy protein concentrate (SPC) was formulated. Four diets containing either SDBP (i.e., 25 or 50 g/kg) or H-SDBP (i.e., 28 or 56 g/kg) that partially or fully replaced SPC were also formulated. A randomized complete block design with 240 weanling pigs (6.52 ± 0.98 kg), five diets, four pigs per pen, and 12 replicate pens per diet was used. Pigs were fed experimental diets for 14 days post-weaning, whereas a common phase 2 diet was fed to pigs from day 15–42 post-weaning. Results indicated that from day 1–14, fully replacing SPC with SDBP or H-SDBP increased (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG), gain to feed ratio (G:F), and ending body weight of pigs. During this period, linear (P < 0.01) increases in ADG, G:F, and body weight of pigs were also observed as dietary concentrations of SDBP increased. When pigs were fed the common diet from day 15–42, final body weight of pigs increased (linear, P < 0.05) for pigs fed SDBP or H-SDBP in phase 1. For the overall experimental period, ADG of pigs linearly increased (P < 0.05) as dietary concentration of both plasma sources increased in phase 1 diets. From day 8–14, and from day 1–14, fecal scores of pigs were reduced (linear, P < 0.05) as the concentration of SDBP increased in the diet. Partially replacing SPC with H-SDBP also reduced (P < 0.05) fecal scores of pigs from day 8–14. In conclusion, both plasma sources were effective for increasing pig growth performance and reducing diarrhea in the post-weaning period.