Efficacy of polyherbal feed supplements on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in grower pigs Lavanya M.*, Babu D. Suresh, Suresh J., Kiraiari B. Punya, Reddy G. V. Bhaskar, Ganguly Bhaskar, Reddy M. Kamalnath ICAR-AICRP on Pigs, College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India-517502 *Correspondence: lavanyamamidalal@gmail.com
Online published on 28 December, 2023. Abstract The present experimental trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of different polyherbal feed additives on the growthperformance and nutrient utilization of weaned piglets during grower phase. 30 weaned piglets were made into five groups and each group with six piglets were fed with common concentrate feed mixture (CFM) without any herbal feed supplement (TO), CFM with Restobal @ 15ml/ day/animal once in three days mixed with feed (Tl), CFM with Stresomix @ 250g/tonne (T2), CFM with Ruchamax(T3) and Nbiotic (T4) each @ 500g/tonne, respectively up to attaining of live weight about 35 kg. During the experiment, the daily feed intake as well as weekly body weight were recorded. Digestion trialat the end of study period was conducted for seven days to determine the nutrient digestibility. Addition of herbal feed supplements did not significantly (P>0.05) influenced the initial, final body weights and feed consumption (kg/day) of pigs. Pigs supplemented with Nbiotic (T4) had significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight gain during experimental period than pigs fed with control diet (TO). There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between pigs fed with different herbal supplements (T1 to T4). A significant (PO.05) higher daily gain (g/day) was found in pigs supplemented with Stesomix (T2) and Ruchamax (T3) than pigs fed with control diet (TO). Among all experimental groups of pigs, pigs fed with Stresomix (T2) attained 35 kg body weight in 67 days only followed by T3 groups in 72 days, T4 and T1 groups in 73 days and TO groups in 80 days. A significant (PO.05) higher crude protein digestibility was found in pigs fed with herbal feed supplements (Tl to T4) than control diet (TO). It was concluded that inclusion of polyherbal preparations like Stresomix and Ruchamax at appropriate dose with concentrate ration will improve the performance and nutrient digestibility in pigs without adverse effects on their health. Top Keywords Growth Performance and Nutrient digestibility, Pigs, Polyherbal Supplements. Top |