Effects of dietary capsulated zinc oxide on growth performance, blood metabolism and mineral concentrations in weaning piglets

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of various dietary concentrations of capsulated zinc oxide (C-ZnO) on growth performance, blood metabolism and mineral concentrations in weaning piglets. In this study, a total of 144 crossbred piglets (DurocxLandrancexYorkshire) were randomly assigned into 6 groups. One of six treatments was fed the basal diet supplemented with 0 (the control), 281.25, 562.5, 1125 and 2250 mg kg-1 zinc as C-ZnO and 2250 mg kg-1 zinc as zinc oxide (ZnO) for 21 days. Results indicated that compared to the control, dietary supplementation of C-ZnO (>562.5 mg kg-1 zinc) and ZnO (2250 mg kg-1 zinc) increased (p<0.05) the average daily gain, decreased (p<0.05) the feed: gain ratio as well as serum urea nitrogen concentration. Lower levels of zinc as C-ZnO (281.25-1125 mg kg-1 zinc) decreased (p<0.05) the zinc concentrations in liver, kidney and feces compared with 2250 mg kg-1 zinc as ZnO. These results showed that lower levels (281.25-1125 mg kg-1) of zinc as C-ZnO enhanced growth performance, altered blood metabolism and decreased fecal zinc excretion in weaning piglets compared to pharmacological concentration of zinc as ZnO. © 2013 Academic Journals Inc.