IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTIVE AND HEALTH INDICATORS IN IBERIAN PIGS SUPPLEMENTED WITH INGUBAL

Background: During the last years, the introduction of probiotics into the field of animal production is receiving great interest, given the constant changes in the livestock sector. Thus, the need to enhance the productivity to satisfy the increasing demand in the animal products together with the emergence of infectious diseases negatively affecting the production and the restrictions on the use of antimicrobials has led to the search for new approaches. Ingubal® is a fermented supplement containing yeast and different strains of lactic acid bacteria with proven probiotic properties and granted QPS status. Aim: The objective was to assess the effect of Ingubal® as an alternative to the use of antimicrobials in animal feed. Methods: Two homogeneous groups of Iberian pigs were formed according to age, sex and health status. The study group was fed with a standard feed supplemented with Ingubal® from birth to weaning and the control group received only the standard feed. Whole blood and serum were collected for complete blood count and biochemical parameters determination. Faecal swabs were collected for counting total mesophilic and lactic acid bacteria. Iberian pigs were weighed at different time points to estimate the effect on final weight and average daily gain (ADG). Results: Our most important findings show that ADG was significantly higher in supplemented Iberian pigs. In this group, higher haematocrit, haemoglobin count, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were found but there were no differences in the erythrocyte count regarding the control group. A lower white blood cell count was also found in the study group. Conclusions: These results show that the use of fermented feed with probiotic action (Ingubal®) has led to an improvement in the productive and health indicators, thereby favouring an improvement on farm profitability.