system. A stronger immune system means the animal is bet- ter able to defend itself against all challenges, not just ileitis, with zinc being particularly important. Specifically, zinc enhances the adaptive response, in other words how an animal responds to disease challenges. Ani- mals with an enhanced response can overcome challenges quicker and recover sooner, and they are better able to re- spond to new challenges in the future. So providing sufficient zinc in the most appropriate form should be a high priority when producing diets right through the swine productive cycle to help respond to immune challenges and reduce the risk of ileitis at each stage of production. The form of mineral is important, as different forms will vary in several key attributes which together determine their value to, and effectiveness within, the animal. Zinpro Performance Min- erals use a specific absorption pathway – the amino acid trans- porter. They are water soluble, are stable at the low pH found in the stomach, are not affected by antagonists, are absorbed more efficiently and are metabolised differently by the animal.


Better absorption, more available to the pig The way these minerals are absorbed, combined with the fact that they are not degraded in the stomach, means less is excreted in the urine and more of the mineral is available to the animal. Trials show that supplementing swine diets with Availa-Zn (Zinpro) has a significant impact on the immune response and the incidence and impact of ileitis. In the trial, previously uninfected pigs were split into groups and fed diets contain- ing different forms of zinc. After 21 days they were orally infected with levels of L. intra- cellularis designed to cause subclinical ileitis. The first thing measured was the level of antibodies to the disease. Anti- body levels are important as they are a crucial first step in an immune response and, put simply, the higher the antibody levels, the more efficient the immune system and the better the animal is fighting the challenge. Pigs fed a diet supplemented with the zinc performance min- eral product had a higher level of serum antibodies than those fed the inorganic control trace mineral (see Figure 1). In addition, they had a significantly greater number of immune cells (T-cells) which get suppressed when ileitis is present. Together these results showed that feeding the perfor- mance mineral product results in a more robust immune system. When the animals were slaughtered, it was found that the supplemented animals had fewer and less severe intestinal lesions, a sign that they had recovered from the challenge quicker reducing the consequences for growth and performance.


Trace minerals and vaccination A second trial aimed to understand the effect of including performance trace minerals in association with vaccination


in swine that had clinical signs of the disease. In the trial, vaccinated animals which also received the enhanced trace mineral strategy showed increased benefit from vaccination with reduced mortality due to clinical ileitis. A synergistic effect was seen between the vaccination and the supple- mentation, which had a big impact on mortality and overall performance. While the mortality rate in unvaccinated control animals was 8.3%, this dropped to 5.6% in vaccinated animals and de- clined further to just 1.1% in animals vaccinated and fed per- formance trace minerals (see Figure 2). That suggests that supplementation with performance minerals benefits the ef- ficacy of vaccination strategies and, based on the trial data, would result in around 4% more animals being finished. The trials show that boosting the immune system with an ap- propriate form of zinc can help producers reduce losses asso- ciated with ileitis, increasing marketable pigs sold and boost- ing returns. It also provides a tool to help replace the use of antibiotics and demonstrates that the industry is acting responsibly to meet consumer demands.


Figure 2 - Mortality due to Lawsona intracellularis challenge.


9.0 8.3 6.0 5.6 3.0 1.1 0.0 Zn sulphate * Availa-Zn.


Vaccinated + Zn sulphate


Vaccinated + performance mineral*


▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 1, 2021 29


Finisher pigs may be helped by the use of trace minerals.


PHOTO: MARK PASVEER Mortality, %


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36