Performance and diarrhoea in piglets following weaning at seven weeks of age: Challenge with E. coli O 149 and effect of dietary factors

Article history: Received 28 August 2007 Received in revised form 4 December 2008 Accepted 5 December 2008 Four dietary factors (ad libitum versus feed restriction, control versus protein restriction at ad libitum feeding, control versus inclusion of lupin as a protein source at ad libitum feeding, and control versus extra vitamin E at ad libitum feeding) were tested in four separate experiments for the effect on diarrhoea. To introduce a diarrhoea-like condition, half of the pigletswere challenged with anE. coliO149doseof 1×10 colony formingunits ondays one and two afterweaning (dayof weaning=day zero). All piglets were susceptible since the dams were tested mono-zygotic susceptible to the attachment site of E. coli O 149 in the intestines. Each of the four experiments included32piglets from4 sows. Thedesignwas a 2×2 factorialwith dietary factor andE. coliO149 challenge as the two factors, each at two levels. The piglets were housed individually during the experimentwhich lasted for 10 days fromweaningat 7weeks of age. Thedaily recordings included feed intake, weight and faecal score (from 1=solid and cloddy to 6=watery and yellow). Faeces from days 1 to 4 were tested for E. coli strains. In addition, blood was sampled and serum was analysed for antibodies to E. coli, IgG and IgM. Generally the E. coli challenge had no effect on growth and feed intake whereas faecal score and number of faecal haemolytic bacteria increased and faecal dry matter decreased. Feed restriction decreased the weight gain while faecal characteristics were unaffected. An analysis including all four experiments revealed that a feed intake of less than 200 g during the first day afterweaning seems to be associatedwith a relatively high incidence of a post-weaning diarrhoea-like condition. Protein restriction decreased faecal score and increased faecal dry matter while weight gain tended to decrease. Inclusion of lupin affected neither weight gain nor faecal characteristics. Extra vitamin E did not affect weight gain while faecal dry matter decreased, and faecal score and number of faecal haemolytic bacteria increased. The dietary treatments had no effect on themeasured immunoglobulins. In conclusion, the studied dietary factors could not alleviate a diarrhoea-like condition and at the same time maintain the growth rate. Furthermore, the results indicate that performance can be improved if piglets achieve a daily feed intake of at least 200 g during the first day after weaning. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.