Beta-mannanase supplementation effects on nursery pig growth performance, feed efficiency, and serum acute phase protein concentrations

An abstract of the study by Huntley et al on the effects of beta-mannanase supplementation on nursery pig growth performance, feed efficiency, and serum acute phase protein concentrations is presented. Pigs were blocked by initial weight, and pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement for a 28-d experiment with 4 phases. Two levels of dietary mannan were achieved by replacing 10% of the soybean meal in the low-mannan diet with copra meal for a high-mannan diet. Results show that beta-mannanase supplementation had no impact on performance and did not affect haptoglobin or CRP concentrations differently in high-mannan diets compared with low-mannan diets.