Abstract:

Diagnosis and calculation of economic impact of incorrect pharmacologic dosage of zinc oxide supplementation aided by record analysis of nursery performance

Lisa M. Tokach, DVM; Steve S. Dritz, DVM, PhD; Mike D. Tokach, PhD

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Piglets weaned from a 1400-sow unit were sent to three different producers in loads of 600 pigs per week. Production records indicated poorer performance and a greater problem with Escherichia coli diarrhea in one herd compared to pigs from the other two (394 g versus 436 g of average daily gain (ADG) and 8.0% versus 0.96% mortality for the case herd and other two herds, respectively). No environment and management differences on the sow farm of origin were found to explain the performance differences in these three groups of pigs.

When diet formulations were reviewed, it was discovered that the first two diets fed to the weaned pigs in the case herd contained 612 ppm zinc from zinc oxide, instead of the specified 3000 ppm. Comparable diets for the pigs in the other two locations did contain 3000 ppm zinc. The diet formulation error was corrected, and performance of the next groups of pigs improved. Research has shown that when zinc oxide is added to the weaned pig's diet at a zinc concentration of 3000 ppm rather than at the nutrient requirement (100 ppm), ADG improves and occurrence of diarrhea may diminish. This case study demonstrated the value of closeout records in determining the economic impact of the diet formulation error, which was calculated to be a loss of US$3.13-US$5.88 per weaned pig.

Keywords: zinc, growth, diarrhea, Escherichia coli


RIS citationCite as: Tokach LM, Dritz SS, Tokach MD. Diagnosis and calculation of economic impact of incorrect pharmacologic dosage of zinc oxide supplementation aided by record analysis of nursery performance. J Swine Health Prod 2000;8(5):229-233.

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