Effects of zinc sources and levels of zinc amino acid complex on growth performance, hematological and biochemical parameters in weanling pigs

• Published in: Animal bioscience Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 1267 - 1274
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yi, Ward, Terry Lynn, Ji, Fei, Peng, Chucai, Zhu, Lin, Gong, Limin, Dong, Bing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Asian - Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies 01-08-2018; Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST); Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies; 아세아·태평양축산학회
• Subjects: Biochemical Parameters; Food and nutrition; Growth; Hematological Parameters; Physiological aspects; Swine; Weanling Pigs; Zinc (Nutrient); Zinc Amino Acid Complex; 축산학; Weanling Pigs; Performance; Biochemical Parameters; Zinc Amino Acid Complex; Hematological Parameters
• ISSN: 1011-2367; 2765-0189; 1976-5517; 2765-0235
• DOI: 10.5713/ajas.17.0739

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of zinc amino acid complex (ZnAA) on growth performance, hematological and biochemical parameters in weanling pigs.
In Exp. 1, a total of 216 Duroc×Landrace×Large White weanling pigs were assigned randomly to 6 dietary treatments. Each treatment had 6 replicates (pens) with 6 pigs each. The diets were corn-soybean meal based with supplementation of 0, 20, 40, 80, 120 mg Zn/kg from ZnAA or 40 mg Zn/kg from feed-grade zinc sulfate. The experiment lasted 42 days. In Exp. 2, a total of 180 weanling pigs were assigned randomly to 3 dietary treatments supplemented with 0, 80, or 800 mg Zn/kg from ZnAA.
In Exp. 1, pigs fed 40 to 80 mg Zn/kg from ZnAA had higher (p<0.05) average daily gain (ADG) than the unsupplemented group during d 0 to 14. During d 0 to 42, the pigs fed 20 to 120 mg Zn/kg from ZnAA had increased (p<0.05) ADG. Pigs fed 20 to 120 mg/kg Zn from ZnAA had lower feed:gain (p<0.05), increased the activity of serum Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase on d 14, and increased serum Zn levels on d 42 (p<0.05). In Exp. 2, pigs fed diets with 800 mg Zn/kg had increased average daily feed intake during d 15 to 28 (p<0.05) compared to the unsupplemented group. During d 0 to 28, the pigs fed supplemental Zn had increased ADG (p<0.05). On d 14 and d 28, pigs fed supplemental Zn had higher the serum alkaline phosphatase activities (p<0.05). No significant differences were observed in the hematological parameters and organ indices.
Supplementation with 20 to 80 mg/kg Zn from ZnAA improved the growth performance in weaned pigs. The piglets can tolerate up to 800 mg/kg Zn from ZnAA with limited potential health effects.