EFFECTS OF FLOOR TYPE ON SERUM FOLATES, SERUM VITAMIN B12, PLASMA BIOTIN AND ON GROWTH PERFORMANCES OF PIGS

Forty-eight 5-wk-old piglets were grouped into six blocks of eight pigs each. Each block comprised two pens of four pigs, two castrates and two females; one pen had a solid floor (free access to feces) while the other had a slatted floor (limited access to feces). Pigs were fed ad libitum a diet computed to meet NRC requirements for 18 wk. Every 14 d, each animal was weighed and a blood sample was taken for the determination of folates, vitamin B12, biotin, hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Ht) levels. There was no effect (P > 0.05) of floor type on serum folates or vitamin B12, nor on plasma biotin which averaged, respectively, 72.2 ± 2.9 ng mL−1, 246.0 ± 21.3 pg mL−1 and 1.34 ± 0.1 ng mL−1 at the end of the experiment. Biotin concentration was about 16-fold greater in the feces than in the diet, which was indicative of active bacterial synthesis of B-complex vitamins in the gut. Hb and Ht were about 4% higher (P < 0.05) in pigs on slatted floors than in those on solid floors. From 5 to 11 wk, pigs raised ...

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