Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets
Along with the increasing litter sizes in pig industry, using milk replacer (MR) as a nutrient supplement has been widely practiced, yet the effects of replacing sow milk (SM) with MR on growth and development of piglets remain unclear. This study evaluated the differential effects of MR versus SM o...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1565039/full |
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| author | Yuwei Zhang Shiya Liu Qiang Zhou Yang Liu Liang Hu Ruinan Zhang Zhengfeng Fang Yan Lin Shengyu Xu Bin Feng Yong Zhuo De Wu Lianqiang Che |
| author_facet | Yuwei Zhang Shiya Liu Qiang Zhou Yang Liu Liang Hu Ruinan Zhang Zhengfeng Fang Yan Lin Shengyu Xu Bin Feng Yong Zhuo De Wu Lianqiang Che |
| author_sort | Yuwei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Along with the increasing litter sizes in pig industry, using milk replacer (MR) as a nutrient supplement has been widely practiced, yet the effects of replacing sow milk (SM) with MR on growth and development of piglets remain unclear. This study evaluated the differential effects of MR versus SM on growth performance, body composition, muscle fiber types, and intestinal health of piglets during the neonatal and nursery periods. Forty 2-day-old piglets, selected from 10 healthy sows, were randomly divided into two groups receiving either SM or MR ad libitum until postnatal day 23 (PND 23), then transitioned to be fed with nursery diet until PND 37. Blood, muscle, and intestinal tissues, along with colonic digesta and carcass samples, were collected on PND 12 (n = 10) and PND 37 (n = 10) for analysis of parameters related to intestinal function, microbiota composition and muscular development. The results showed that MR-fed piglets had lower average daily gain (ADG) and higher diarrhea index during the neonatal period. During the nursery period, however, MR-fed piglets had significantly higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) and ADG. Compared to SM-fed piglets, MR-fed piglets had a lower percentage of fast twitch fibers, but a higher percentage of slow twitch fibers on PND 12, along with lower body fat content on both PND 12 and PND 37. In addition, MR-fed piglets had significantly deeper crypt depth, increased mRNA expressions of inflammatory genes, and lower alpha diversity on PND 12. On PND 37, however, MR-fed piglets had higher villus height, increased sucrase activity and alpha diversity. On PND 12, likewise, MR-fed piglets were enriched with Prevotella associated with diarrhea, while SM-fed piglets were enriched with Lachnospiraceae associated with body fat deposition. In contrast, on PND 37, MR-fed piglets were enriched with commonly recognized beneficial bacteria, such as f_Muribaculaceae, g_Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, f_Oscillospiraceae and f_Rikenellaceae. These findings indicate that piglets fed MR experienced temporary growth check and intestinal complications in neonatal period, but intriguingly MR piglets had higher feed intake, compensatory growth, and recovery of intestinal function during the nursery period. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fd512746a24442559e7fbfb8fa46e753 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-fd512746a24442559e7fbfb8fa46e7532025-08-20T03:13:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692025-04-011210.3389/fvets.2025.15650391565039Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery pigletsYuwei Zhang0Shiya Liu1Qiang Zhou2Yang Liu3Liang Hu4Ruinan Zhang5Zhengfeng Fang6Yan Lin7Shengyu Xu8Bin Feng9Yong Zhuo10De Wu11Lianqiang Che12Key Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaCollege of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaKey Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistant Nutrition of Sichuan Province, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, ChinaAlong with the increasing litter sizes in pig industry, using milk replacer (MR) as a nutrient supplement has been widely practiced, yet the effects of replacing sow milk (SM) with MR on growth and development of piglets remain unclear. This study evaluated the differential effects of MR versus SM on growth performance, body composition, muscle fiber types, and intestinal health of piglets during the neonatal and nursery periods. Forty 2-day-old piglets, selected from 10 healthy sows, were randomly divided into two groups receiving either SM or MR ad libitum until postnatal day 23 (PND 23), then transitioned to be fed with nursery diet until PND 37. Blood, muscle, and intestinal tissues, along with colonic digesta and carcass samples, were collected on PND 12 (n = 10) and PND 37 (n = 10) for analysis of parameters related to intestinal function, microbiota composition and muscular development. The results showed that MR-fed piglets had lower average daily gain (ADG) and higher diarrhea index during the neonatal period. During the nursery period, however, MR-fed piglets had significantly higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) and ADG. Compared to SM-fed piglets, MR-fed piglets had a lower percentage of fast twitch fibers, but a higher percentage of slow twitch fibers on PND 12, along with lower body fat content on both PND 12 and PND 37. In addition, MR-fed piglets had significantly deeper crypt depth, increased mRNA expressions of inflammatory genes, and lower alpha diversity on PND 12. On PND 37, however, MR-fed piglets had higher villus height, increased sucrase activity and alpha diversity. On PND 12, likewise, MR-fed piglets were enriched with Prevotella associated with diarrhea, while SM-fed piglets were enriched with Lachnospiraceae associated with body fat deposition. In contrast, on PND 37, MR-fed piglets were enriched with commonly recognized beneficial bacteria, such as f_Muribaculaceae, g_Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, f_Oscillospiraceae and f_Rikenellaceae. These findings indicate that piglets fed MR experienced temporary growth check and intestinal complications in neonatal period, but intriguingly MR piglets had higher feed intake, compensatory growth, and recovery of intestinal function during the nursery period.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1565039/fullswinemilk formulaintestinal healthbody compositionmicrobiome |
| spellingShingle | Yuwei Zhang Shiya Liu Qiang Zhou Yang Liu Liang Hu Ruinan Zhang Zhengfeng Fang Yan Lin Shengyu Xu Bin Feng Yong Zhuo De Wu Lianqiang Che Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets Frontiers in Veterinary Science swine milk formula intestinal health body composition microbiome |
| title | Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| title_full | Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| title_fullStr | Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| title_short | Impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance, intestinal development, bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| title_sort | impact of replacing sow milk with milk replacer on growth performance intestinal development bacterial profile and muscular maturation in neonatal and nursery piglets |
| topic | swine milk formula intestinal health body composition microbiome |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2025.1565039/full |
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