Effects of Stocking Density on Growth Performance and Serum Biochemical, Immune, Antioxidant and Stress Indices of Growing Pigs in Summer

XIAO Kequan; FAN Xiaoya; QU Shengfu; QIAN Yuliang; GAO Fengxian

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2019.08.016

2019 , Vol. 31 >Issue 8: 3551 - 3560

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2019.08.016

Effects of Stocking Density on Growth Performance and Serum Biochemical, Immune, Antioxidant and Stress Indices of Growing Pigs in Summer

XIAO Kequan ,
FAN Xiaoya ,
QU Shengfu ,
QIAN Yuliang ,
GAO Fengxian

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1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China;
2. Hunan Co-Innovation Center of Animal Production Safety, Changsha 410128, China

Received date: 2019-01-18

Online published: 2019-08-19

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Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the effects of stocking density on growth performance and serum biochemical, immune, antioxidant and stress indices of growing pigs in summer. A total of 216 healthy Large White×Landrace growing pigs with similar age and initial weight of (24.64±0.13) kg were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 replicates (pens) in each group. Stocking density of the four groups were modified by varying the number of pigs per pen (there were 6, 8, 10 and 12 pigs in group Ⅰ, group Ⅱ, group Ⅲ and group Ⅳ, respectively), and the stocking densities of the 4 groups were 1.52, 1.14, 0.91 and 0.76 m² per head. The experiment lasted for 28 days. The results showed as follows:1) with the stocking density increasing, the average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily gain (ADG) of growing pigs were linearly decreased (P<0.05), and the ratio of feed to gain (F/G) was linearly increased (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in ADFI, ADG and F/G between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ (P>0.05). 2) With the stocking density increasing, the concentrations of globulin (GLB), triiodothyronine (T₃) and thyroxine (T₄) in serum of growing pigs were linearly decreased (P<0.05), and the concentrations of glucose (GLU) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) in serum were linearly increased (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the concentrations of T₃, T₄, GLB and GLU in serum between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ (P>0.05). 3) Compared with group Ⅱ, the concentrations of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and mmunoglobulin G (IgG) in serum of group Ⅳ were significantly decreased (P<0.05). With the stocking density increasing, the concentrations of interleukin-1β (IL-β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum of growing pigs were linearly increased (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the concentrations of IgA, IgG and IL-1β in serum between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ (P>0.05). 4) With the stocking density increasing, the serum catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were linearly changed (P<0.05), and the serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) presented a quadratic curve change (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in serum CAT, SOD activities, T-AOC and MDA concentration between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ (P>0.05). 5) With the stocking density increasing, the serum adrenal cortex hormone (ACTH) concentration of group Ⅳ was significantly higher than that of group Ⅱ and group Ⅲ (P<0.05), and the serum cortisol (COR) concentration had an increasing trend (0.05 ≤ P<0.10). In conclusion, there are no significant differences in growth performance and serum biochemical, immune, stress and antioxidant indices between group Ⅰ and group Ⅱ, and considering the economic benefits, group Ⅱ (1.14 m²/head) is more suitable for the growth of growing pigs (25 to 45 kg) in summer, which has the high growth rate and feed conversion rate and the low immunological stress.

Key words： stocking density; growing pigs; growth performance; antioxidant; immune; stress

Cite this article

XIAO Kequan , FAN Xiaoya , QU Shengfu , QIAN Yuliang , GAO Fengxian . Effects of Stocking Density on Growth Performance and Serum Biochemical, Immune, Antioxidant and Stress Indices of Growing Pigs in Summer[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2019 , 31(8) : 3551 -3560 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2019.08.016

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