Lack of influence of nursery temperature on the response of weanling pigs to supplemental vitamins C and E

Three trials using 240 weanling pigs were conducted during winter months to determine the influence of nursery temperature ("comfortable" vs "cold") on the response of weanling pigs to added vitamin C (700 ppm) or E (55 IU/kg) to a corn-soybean meal diet. A "comfortable" temperature schedule (27 C initially with a weekly 2 C drop) was maintained in one nursery, with the temperature schedule in the "cold" nursery about 8 C lower. Plasma concentrations of vitamin C and vitamin E were elevated when the respective vitamins were added to the diet, but were not consistently influenced by nursery temperatures. Daily gain, daily feed intake and feed efficiency were not improved with the added C or E. Daily feed intake was increased and feed-to-gain ratios were larger for pigs housed in the "cold" nursery compared with pigs housed in the "comfortable" nursery; however, daily gains were similar in the two environments. Pigs housed in the "cold" nursery were slightly stressed, as indicated by heavier adrenal glands, but the antibody response and serum glucocorticoid concentrations were not significantly affected by either diet or temperature.