Reproductive performance, litter performance, and digestive transit delay of sows fed with the inclusion of diatomaceous earth in their diets

Resumen

Diatomaceous earth is a non-nutritional feed additive composed of geological deposits of micro-skeletons of fossilized algae species (mainly Thalassiosira and Actinoptychus) formed by amorphous silica and various minerals. It has low density and high porosity and, when consumed by animals, acts as an intestinal transit slowdown agent, promoting nutrient absorption. In this study, 38 sows in production were evaluated and fed diets with and without the inclusion of diatomaceous earth, for treatments T1 and T2, respectively. Diatomaceous earth was used at a dose of 0.5 kg per ton of feed for T1. The variables of digestive transit time, feed digestibility, litter size at birth, litter weight at birth, weaning-estrus interval, litter size at weaning, litter weight at weaning, lactation mortality, average piglet birth weight, average weight at 14 d, average weight at 28 d, average weight at 60 d, and economic merit were evaluated. The use of diatomaceous earth slowed down the digestive transit time by 1 hour 59 min, and nutrient digestibility improved compared to T2. The only variables for which there were no statistically significant differences (P>0.05) were the weaning-estrus interval and average birth weight. According to the results, supplementation of the diet of pregnant and lactating sows with diatomaceous earth increases intestinal transit time, improving nutrient absorption and productive and reproductive indexes.