Effect of Dietary Oats and Kaolin on Performance and Incidence of Diarrhea of Weanling Pigs

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Abstract
Three experiments involving 252 crossbred pigs were conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary oats and kaolin on pig performance and incidence of diarrhea at weaning. All trials were conducted for 28 days with pigs fed corn-soybean meal diets containing 18% protein that were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Pigs were weaned in a completely enclosed well ventilated nursery with slatted floors and nipple waterers. Oats at 10, 20 and 30% levels and kaolin at 1 and 3% were the dietary levels used. All pigs experienced a period of poor performance immediately post-weaning due to the stresses of weaning. This period lasted from 7 to 14 days depending mainly on body weight at weaning. These differences in performance due to body weight were evident throughout the experimental period with the heavier pigs at weaning having superior performance. No differences (P>.05) due to the addition of dietary oats and/or kaolin were found in average daily gain, average daily feed or feed to gain ratios for the overall 28-day values. Diarrhea was not a severe problem (no deaths or morbidity directly attributed to diarrhea); however, when diarrhea did occur no differences in its incidence or severity could be attributable to dietary treatments. The digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and gross energy was also unaffected by the dietary treatments. Copyright © 1978. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1978 by American Society of Animal Science.