Effects of salicylic acid on growth performance, fecal score, blood profile, and nutrient digestibility in weaned pigs

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of salicylic acid on growth performance in weaned pigs. A total of 80 weaning pigs ((Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc) with average initial body weight (BW) of 6.40 ± 1.42 kg were randomly assigned by BW for a 6-week feeding trial. Pigs were randomly allotted to two treatments, CON group (basal diet) and SA group (basal diet + 0.05% salicylic acid). There were eight replications in each treatment, with five pigs per pen. The results showed that SA group at days 14, 28, and 42 ( P < 0.05) significantly improved the BW gain of the weaning pig compared with CON group. In addition, during the overall experiment period (1–42 days), a tendency in higher average daily gain and average daily feed intake (0.05 <  P < 0.1) were observed in pigs fed SA supplemented diet compared with those fed CON diet. Moreover, at the end of trial, the blood parameters of Fe concentration were higher in pigs ( P < 0.05) fed diet supplemented with SA. In conclusion, supplementation of SA positively influenced growth performance and serum Fe concentration, but there were no effects on nutrient digestibility and fecal score.