Feeding trial confirmed:
BEWITAL agri fat powders are highly digestible
Oils and fats play an important role in animal nutrition. They serve as an energy source, storage medium, synthesizes of membranes, absorption, synthesis and transport of hormones and vitamins. Fat is the feed component with the highest energy density in feed. Sow milk contains about 40% fat on the dry matter basis. This proves that piglets able to digest oils and fat perfectly. But the fat sources and quality in combination with the age of the piglets are crucial factors for digestibility. Obvious among other issues, the development of enzyme production is a key factor. Lipase and bile salt production, which are crucial for fat digestion, increase significantly at the age of 4-6 weeks. Therefore, the period around weaning is a critical phase. The fat used in the ration must be of highest quality and easily digestible. Rather often lecithin is used to improve fat digestibility. Lecithin has emulsifying properties and supports bile salts in the formation of small micelles.
Digestibility study at University of Bingen
In practice, different sources of fat are used. This ranges from raw, unrefined (vegetable) fats to fatty acid mixtures, high-quality refined fats and last but not least whey-fat concentrates. Various data on the digestibility of oils and fats are given in the literature. Above all, so-called dry feed fats are often attested to be less digestible. However, as they differ significantly in structure and the particle structure, this has a significant influence on digestibility, a digestibility study at the University of Bingen under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Georg Dusel examined the effects of different fat sources on weaned piglets. For this purpose, the following products are compared: soya oil, whey fat concentrate, BEWI-SPRAY® 99L and BEWI-PIG® 80L.
Study details
The main components of the basic mixture were wheat, corn, barley, soybean meal, rapeseed meal and 3% soybean oil. A further 3% oil or fat from the tested fat sources was added to the basal diet. All rations had the same fat and lactose content and were isoenergetically optimized. The experimental diets were pelleted and administered twice daily, corresponding to 2.5 times the maintenance requirement. Following the 12-day adaptation phase to the rations, a quantitative collection of faeces took place in the 5-day collection phase. The weaned piglets of the DanBred x Pietrain breed had an average live weight of 12.8 kg (+/- 0.4 kg) at the beginning of the trial. Each variant was tested in 6 replicates.
Results
The chemical composition of the rations and the effects on energy digestibility of the different fat sources are presented here:
*n.s. = not significant
The addition of the various fat sources to the basic ration had no effect on feed intake and daily weight gain. In addition, no significant differences in terms of energy digestibility could be determined. At 84.1% and 83.4%, respectively, the energy digestibility of BEWI-SPRAY® 99L and BEWI-PIG® 80L was on the same level as soybean oil and whey fat concentrate.
The results of the digestibility study show that even young piglets can convert the energy from BEWI-SPRAY® 99L and BEWI-PIG® 80L to a high degree in performance (=growth). The refined and hydrogenated vegetable fats from the BEWITAL portfolio, which are also enriched with lecithin, are therefore an optimal component for closing the energy gap, which is particularly prevalent in piglet rations, with highly energetic and easily digestible ingredients.