Fiber in Animal Nutrition

25 Fiber effects related to health and welfare topics • limited crude protein level while providing good amino acid supply • limit buffering capacity by reducing buffering minerals like CaCO 3 or MgO • increase the crude fiber (Ø 4%) content – in case of E. coli up to 6% Anorexia or low feed intake after weaning is associated to stress and vice versa resulting in inflammatory processes, reduced immune response, changed gut morphology (damage to epithelial tissue) and intestinal stasis.These changes in the gut have the ability to reduce digestive function and influence the balance of the microflora, giving pathogenic bacteria like E. coli the chance to proliferate. Pié et al. (2004) investigated the influence of weaning on inflammation of the intestine in newly weaned piglets. 45 piglets (LW x LR) were weaned at the age of 28 days and allocated to one of the groups killed at 0, 1, 2, 5 or 8 days post weaning. Piglets had access to a solid starter diet based on barley, soybean meal, fish meal and milk by-products. Minimal feed intake (11±3 g) was observed in the first 24 h after weaning slowly increasing until reaching 384 g after eight days. At the same time morphology of the intestine was significantly influenced by the weaning process. In the proximal small intestine (SI) the villus perimeter decreased by 29% (p < 0.05) within the first day and stayed on a lower level throughout the 8 day trial. The crypt perimeter was not influenced in any section of the SI (see figure 6 and 7). Figure 7: Intestinal architecture in the SI of piglets; n = 8-10; (Pié et al. 2004) Means in a row without common superscript differ (P < 0.05) Figure 6: Influence of weaning on feed intake (Pié et al. 2004) 500 375 250 125 0 1 2 8 Feed intake (g) Days a er weaning 1600 1200 800 400 0 5 4 3 1 2 Perimeter (μm) villus perimeter crypt perimeter 1576 a 1119 b 1215 b 1150 b 1197 b 713 704 694 792 870 © ERLING Verlag