Abstract
Two experiments were conducted with spray dried animal plasma (SDAP) in diets for piglets from 0 to 14 days post-weaning. Experiment 1 was conducted to determine a possible interaction between diet composition and SDAP in diets without anti-microbial growth promoter (AMGP). Experiment 2 was conducted to determine a possible interaction between SDAP and AMGP. Both experiments comprised four treatments in a 2×2 factorial arrangement. The respective factors were diet composition (simple vs. complex with more animal protein) and SDAP (0% vs. 4%) in experiment 1 and AMGP (0 vs. 40 ppm avilamycine) and SDAP (0% vs. 4%) in experiment 2. During the first week post-weaning SDAP improved feed intake by 14% in experiment 2 and average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) by approximately 20% and 10%, respectively, in both experiments (
P<0.05). SDAP effects were more pronounced for the complex diet in experiment 1 and tended to have more effect on ADG and average daily feed intake (ADFI) for the diet without avilamycine in experiment 2. In conclusion, SDAP in weaning diets had a positive effect on growth performance of the piglets, but this was largely restricted to the first week post-weaning. The magnitude of the effect depends on diet complexity and was more pronounced for diets without AMGP.