264 Effects of Water Quality on Nursery Pig Performance and Health. (30th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lozinski, Brigit; Frederick, Brent; Hilbrands, Adrienne; Li, Yuzhi; Saqui-Salces, Milena; Shurson, Gerald C; Urriola, Pedro E; Wilson, Melissa; Johnston, Lee
• Is Part Of: Journal of animal science. Volume 98(2020)Supplement 3
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 89
• Publication Date: 2020-11-30
• Subjects: water -- quality -- nursery pig -- growth; Livestock -- Periodicals; Livestock; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 636.005
• DOI: 10.1093/jas/skaa054.156
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8812

Abstract

Abstract: Newly-weaned pigs (n = 450; age = 20 d) were used in a 40-d experiment to determine the effects of water quality on pig performance and health. Pigs were sourced from a single commercial sow farm that was negative for both Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus and Mycoplasma Pneumonia. Pigs were allotted randomly to 45 pens (10 pigs/pen) and pens were assigned to 1 of 3 water treatments that provided water of differing quality. Waters were selected to represent a wide range of perceived water quality. Water quality was determined based on concentration of analytes including sulfates (1, 120; 617; 2 ppm), iron (5.4; 5.2; 1.3 ppm), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS; 1, 500; 1, 050; 348 ppm), hardness (1, 410; 909; 235 mg Eq CaCO3 /L), magnesium (171; 91; 21 ppm) and sodium (64; 37; 29 ppm) for waters A, B, and C, respectively. Pigs were housed in an environmentally controlled, power ventilated, confinement nursery barn and were allowed ad libitum access to a common three-phase diet and water across all water treatments. Weekly ADG, ADFI, and G:F were measured and subjective scour score (1=solid feces to 4=liquid feces) was recorded daily through day 7. Data for pig growth performance were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX with water quality as a fixed effect and pen served as the experimental unit. There were no differences among treatments in ADG, ADFI, and G:F (Table 1). Number of pigs treated with antibiotics throughout the experiment did not differ among treatments as determined by Chi-Square analysis. Average subjective scour score on day 7 of the experiment also did not differ among treatments. In conclusion, performance and health of nursery pigs as measured in this experiment were not influenced by the differing water qualities studied.