Page 17 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Meta-analysis on trials conducted across five continents and 125,575 pigs focusing on pre-weaning mortality and extra pigs per litter.
Getting gut health right from the start with Tonisity Px
OVER the past few years, increasingly the term ‘gut health’ has been used in animal hus- bandry – and pig produc- tion is no exception.
the total surface area of By feeding the intestinal A recent meta-analysis what creep feed they were isity Px solution were intestinal morphology.
However, there is still confusion as to what gut health means, how it can be defined and how it can be measured.
This growth requires substantial amounts of nutrition and energy that are not always available from the sow in modern production systems.
Besides a clear reduc- tion in pre-weaning mor- tality when given during the first week of life, the Tonisity Px solution en- courages feed intake by the piglet, especially if it is distributed around weaning.
Their average feed con- version rate during the fattening period was also significantly better – 2.74 vs. 2.79, P=0.02.
Ask any veterinarian and they will probably tell you that a healthy gut is related to the absence of disease, while a producer will certainly focus on how gut health positively impacts performance.
Piglets do not always get access to or do not con- sume sufficient amounts of colostrum or milk in the farrowing house.
These simple nutrients are delivered in solu- tions that are absorbed and utilised directly by the enterocytes to do their essential work, which is to absorb all of the other nutrients that the body needs.
On average, a 20 percent reduction in pre-weaning mortality versus controls – 9.7 percent versus 12.1 percent – was observed, which equals +0.32 pigs per litter or +0.77 piglets per sow per year.
Maintaining feed intake around weaning is also a key step in preserving gut health.
By applying the concept of micro-enteral nutrition to pigs, Tonisity Px was developed to improve gut health, especially in pre- weaning pigs.
Development of good gut health is a multi- faceted challenge which needs to start in the far- rowing house.
In reality, the concept of gut health covers several aspects of the gastroin- testinal tract, such as the effective digestion of feed associated with the fast absorption of nutrients, the absence of diseases at an intestinal level, good and stable intestinal mi- crobiota and a well-estab- lished immune status.
Even during short pe- riods of starvation that occur during weaning and transportation, the small intestinal mucosa quickly atrophies, with nega- tive effects being visible within hours of food with- drawal.
By encouraging feed consumption around weaning, Tonisity Px fa- cilitates the transition during this stressful pe- riod, with positive effects that persist up to slaughter.
This novel isotonic pro- tein drink delivers key en- ergy-producing substrates to the enterocytes, leading to a positive impact on nutrient absorption and
CCD Animal Health is the Australian distributor for Tonisity.
a piglet’s small intestine doubles by day 10, and the number of enterocyte cells – absorptive cells that line the villi of the small intestine – doubles in the first three days.
cells, the integrity of the intestinal barrier is also maintained, which is key to maintaining gut health.
of 60 trials involving 125,575 piglets across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the US showed the positive impact of the Tonisity Px solution on pre-weaning mortality, when given to piglets from days 2-8 of life at a rate of 500ml per litter each day or 40ml per piglet per day.
given.
Those pigs also tended
220g heavier at weaning (P<0.05) and increased their advantage up to slaughter, reaching the target weight one week earlier than the control group.
As a consequence, pre-weaning mortality is significantly reduced, feed intake and weight gain around weaning is improved, which leads to faster growth up to slaughter and results in a clear and positive impact on the economic perfor- mance of the operation.
Micro-enteral nutrition is the delivery of small amounts of water, electro- lytes, and readily absorbed nutrients – glucose, amino acids, and small peptides – directly to the gastroin- testinal tract.
to have superior intestinal mucosal thickness.
Micro-enteral solutions generally contain very simple sugars and single amino acids or small pep- tides, and are also typi- cally isotonic.
The reduction of mor- tality was most likely due to the fact that the protein and amino acid profile of this isotonic protein drink delivered key energy-pro- ducing substrates to the enterocytes, leading to a positive impact on intes- tinal morphology and nu- trient absorption.
This was recently dem- onstrated in a meta-anal- ysis of 14 trials across 1183 litters, where the experimental groups were given Tonisity Px solu- tion from day 2-8 of life – 500ml per litter and per day.
For more information, contact Fiona Selleck on 0428 247 272 or 1300 791 009.
Each of these contribute to a state of well-being for the animal and better performance observed by the producer.
The lack of nutrients in the intestine can disrupt the barrier functions of the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in gut atrophy, luminal starvation, bacte- rial translocation and im- paired immune functions.
This ensures that they are quickly absorbed without creating further sodium or water loss.
The intestinal mucosa, especially the small in- testine, serves two crucial functions – to absorb nu- trients and serve as a bar- rier to pathogens.
Various strategies are used to try to overcome the key stress points of production – pre-weaning mortality, post-weaning diarrhoea and long-dis- tance transportation.
Such solutions have been successfully used to manage sick animals, particularly in the case of diarrhoea or other diges- tive disorders in dogs.
Indeed, histopathology analysis revealed that pig- lets receiving the drink from days 2-8 of age had significantly greater villus height, villus den- sity and crypt density that persisted until at least 28 days of age, regardless of
While the average number of piglets per litter and the average body weight at day 2 were the same in both groups, it was observed that the piglets receiving the Ton-
Any damage or mal- function in the intestinal mucosa will be associated with an increased risk of infection, as well as immune-mediated illness.
Milk replacers and elec- trolyte solutions are oc- casionally used by pro- ducers to give extra en- ergy and fluids to piglets.
This innovative solution is delivered in open pans preferably, to facilitate the pigs’ natural curiosity and remove the learning and tactile barriers to drinking caused by me- chanical nipple drinkers.
The first opportunity for developing a robust intes- tinal mucosa and good gut health starts at birth.
Antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics and plant ex- tracts are all used in an attempt to modify the in- testinal microflora.
However, the modern piglet faces many chal- lenges, even in the first week of life.
However, none of these strategies actually im- prove the essential func- tion of the enterocytes, which are the engines responsible for absorbing nutrients.
Furthermore, being highly palatable, the drink is consumed in significant volumes by piglets less than one week old.
Piglets are born with a relatively undeveloped intestine, which grows tremendously right after birth.
A more focused ap- proach called ‘micro- enteral nutrition’ aims to feed the intestinal cells themselves and help those cells to do a better job of absorbing any available nutrients.
By feeding the entero- cytes, Tonisity Px has a positive effect on gut health and brings several clear benefits to the swine producer.
A piglet’s intestine must develop as much in the first month as a foal, calf or human intestine would develop in six months or- dinarily.
One of the most visible impacts is the reduction of pre-weaning mortality.
Studies have shown that
Overall benefits of using Tonisity Px seen consistently around the globe.
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Australian Pork Newspaper, December 2020 – Page 17
A novel approach, com- bining previous knowl- edge in both human and canine micro-enteral nutrition, has resulted in the development of an isotonic protein drink for swine – Tonisity Px.
Piglets enjoying the highly palatable Tonisity Px solu- tion.