CMancMtar Farming, Saturday, February 10,1996 DO PIGS GET ENOUGH VITAMINS? Elementary history lessons taught us that scurvy was a major risk in early ocean voyages. Sea captains learned to prevent the problem in future trips by hav ing the sailors consume things such as sauerkraut, lime juice, or citrus fruits. In 1928, vitamin C, the key compound that prevents scurvy, was isolated. During the next 30-40 years, more and more vita mins were identified. And our approach to formulating animal diets became simpler. Instead of adding things such as tankage, linseed meal, and com distillers grains, we add now vita min premixes. You would think that by now we’d have all the vita mins identified and the daily requirements pretty much figured out. In fact, by providing the vita mins listed in the NRC for Swine (1998) in the correct amounts, pigs will grow and reproduce normally. But there is research, a lot of it. B&B SPRAY PAINTING SANDBLASTING SPRAY - ROLL - BRUSH Specializing In Buildings, , Feed Mills - Roofs - Tanks - Etc., Aerial Ladder Equip. Stone - Barn - Restoration 574 Gibbon’s Rd., Bird-ln>Hand, Pa. Answering Sendee (717) 354-5561 Guaranteed Snow/Shovel-Scraper Blade guaranteed for 10 years against breakage. 1/4” thick industrial grade UHMWpoly. Snow does NOT stick to blade surface. Self-Sharpening edges *27°° * 2B * o 16”X18” 10”X24” demonstrating that higher amounts are beneficial. Here’s a brief sum mary of several studies on selected vitamins. This vital nutrient affects bone growth, reproduction, and the health of cell membranes. A simi lar compound that is easily con verted td',vitamin A is beta car otene. In fact, this is the compound normally present in feedstuffs that helps the animal meet the vitamin A requirement $334° *42” 10”X30” 10”X36” C.F.C. Distributors Inc. 81. I, Box I*l Bnann, IN 46974 /SSSHEigx. 800-548-661} // 'l/w«sVl Vitamin A Studio show that embryo survi val and Utter size is improved with' extra amounts of vitamin A or beta carotene (vitamin A is less expen sive). Some key points of the research; • The effect is most pronounced in sows that have had at least two litters • Injections (at weaning) work better than putting the same amount in the diet • An effective injection dose of vitamin A seems to be 1 million lU. A word of caution. Some vita mins can be toxic at high doses, and vitamin A is one of them —do not exceed 1 million IU per sow. Also, a lot of the research on vita min A has been conducted with a special vitamin A injectable prepa ration. It is likely, but not certain, that commercially available inject able vitamin A would have similar effects. Vitamin E Like vitamin A, E is vital in maintaining cell membranes and it is available in both dietary and injectable forms. But the benefi cial effects of vitamin E are broad er than that of vitamin A, and at least for the pig, vitamin E has no obvious toxic effects. Recent research shows that vita min E injections (1,000-2,000 IU) given to the sow at weaning can produce larger litters, heavier pigs at birth, and reduce pre-wcaning mortality. Likewise, 60,000 IU of vitamin E/ton of feed can improve litter size by .8 pig compared to sows receiving the NRC recom mended level of 15,000 IU/ton of feed. The beneficial effects are due in part to enhanced immune function in the pigs and improved milking ability in the sows (vitamin E reduces die incidence of MMA). Young pigs benefit from extra vit amin E. as injections of 1,000 lU/ pig at weaning improved growth rate in one trial. Vitamin E also improves pork quality and shelf life. Because vitamin E is an antiox idant, when fed at high levels (180,000 IUAon of feed), the muscle tissue also has higher levels of this natural preservative. The result: a slow-down in the axing process of poric (less lipid oxidation and undesirable color changes). Extra vitamin E does not appear to overcome die quality problems associated with the por cine stress syndrome. Biotin " Not long ago, no one bothered to include this vitamin in swine diets. In recent years, we’ve learned that biotin improves hoof health and reproductive efficiency. Between 1977 and 1990, there have been reports of at least 18 experiments. Eleven experiments showed increases in the total num ber of pigs farrowed, 16 showed improvements in pigs bom live, and 11 demonstrated increases in the number weaned. The amount of biotin added in the feed ranged from 90 to 500 mil ligrams per ton. In another study with growing pigs, adding 200 milligrams of biotin/ton of feed appeared to maximize growth per formance in young growing pigs, compared to that of lower and higher doses. (Turn to Pago C 3)
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