Joy Campbell, Candidate of Agricultural Science, USA

Weaning is the most dramatic period in growing pigs. A further result on finishing depends on weaning. The most typical problems of weaning are low feed intake, small gains, frequent diarrhorea, etc. Uneven weight of piglets in the group is also a problem of weaning as well as susceptibility to diseases.

Variety of reasons.

The main reason of the problems described above is that the digestive capability of the digestive tract of weaned piglets is not sufficiently developed. The change of the diet (from liquid to solid feeds ), excess stress because of weaning are also the main reasons of the problems of weaning.

In the first weeks after birth the changes in piglets digestion happens very quickly. The development of the ability to digest proteins (protease: trypsin, chymotrypsin, carboxypeptidase) and fats (lipase) is an important change that go on increasing up to the eighth week. The activity of lactose decreases with age while the activity of other enzymes which digest other sugars increases. Thus it is very important that piglets’ diet should be adapted to piglets’ age and the development of their digestive tract.

The change of the diet becomes a very dramatic point in weaning period. The piglets change from milk to feeds, from liquid feeds to solid and the feed composition is completely different. The milk of the sow is rich on lactose and fat and the solid feeds are rich on starch and protein. As a result the problem of regulation of digestive tract burden appears. The milk of the sow is not available all the time. The solid feeds are given without any restrictions.

Blood plasma is widely used in feeding to increase gaining of piglets’ weight after weaning, to increase the intake of starter and to control diarrhorea. For a number of veterinarians and feeding technologists blood plasma is the main compound in feeds which decreases after weaning stress and is an alternative to antibiotics.

Blood plasma is a feed component of toffee colour, which has no smell and is pulverized. It is a mixture of functional components which includes immunoglobulins, albumins , fibrogenic, lipids, growth factors, biologically active peptide, enzimes and other bioactive compounds. Blood plasma is characterized by high protein content (75-80%) and is rich on highly digestible (84%) lysine (6,8%) . The main proteins of blood plasma are albumins and a-, b- і g-globulins.

Blood plasma is used as an additive to dry feed or milk replacer. When plasma protein is fed to piglets they start eating better, increase weight gain, and experience much less diarrhorea. European pig producers Плазма крові використовується перш за все як добавка до сухого корму або замінників молока. При введенні білків плазми крові в раціон поросята значно краще їдять і збільшують приріст, при цьому помітно меншає діарей. Європейські та американські виробники свинини відзначають помітне збільшення приростів, краще з'їдання кормів та зростання коефіцієнта їх використання порівняно з поросятами, які одержують харч на традиційних джерелах білку, без плазми крові.

Functional proteins as an alternative to feed antibiotics

Better results on finishing using plasma blood.

Scientific researches about usage of dried by spraying plasma and its promising future.

You can read more in the magazine publication «Profitable Pig Production», № 4 (6), December 2011.