Ileal amino acid digestibility in egg from hyperimmunized-hens fed to weaned pigs and piglet response to diets contain egg products

• We determined ileal amino acid digestibility in egg products.
• We also determined piglets response to diets containing egg products.
• Egg product improved growth performance of the piglets.
• However, egg product with inulin did not affect growth performance of the piglets.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the nutritive value of egg obtained from hens immunized with E. coli K88 antigens (EGG), and EGG-exchange (an egg product containing 4.0 g/kg EGG, 646.0 g/kg normal egg and 350.0 g/kg inulin; EGG-X) fed to weaned pigs. In experiment 1, 12 ileal-cannulated barrows (initial BW of 17 kg) were fed four diets over two 7-d periods to determine standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) in EGG and EGG-X. In period 1, pigs were fed three diets in a completely randomized design to give four replicates per diet. The three diets were a cornstarch-based diets with EGG, EGG-X, or spray dried porcine plasma (SDPP) as the sole source of crude protein (CP). In period 2, a low-casein diet was fed to all pigs to determine endogenous AA losses for calculation of SID of AA. Titanium dioxide (3.0 g/kg) was added in all diets as an indigestible marker. In experiment 2, 96 piglets (initial body weight (BW) of 5.9 kg) weaned at 21 days (d) and housed in 24 pens (4 pigs per pen) were fed four diets in a completely randomized design (6 pens per diet) to investigate the effects of including EGG and EGG-X in diets for weaned pigs on growth performance, pancreas weight, intestinal histomorphology, and blood parameters. The four diets were a corn-soybean meal-based (CON; no antimicrobial agents added), CON + 3.0 g/kg EGG, CON + 50 g/kg EGG-X, and CON + 50 g/kg SDPP. Pigs were fed the test diets for 14 d (phase I) and then a common commercial diet for another 11 d (phase II). Growth performance was determined in both phases I and II whereas the rest of the response criteria were determined in phase I. The EGG and EGG-X were similar in SID of indispensable AA, which ranged from 6.50 g/kg (for histidine in EGG) to 7.96 g/kg (for arginine in EGG-X). The SDPP had higher (P<0.05) SID of indispensable AA than EGG or EGG-X. The EGG reduced plasma urea nitrogen (PUN); and increased average daily feed intake (ADFI; P<0.05) by 23% and tended to increase (P<0.10) average daily gain (ADG) by 28% in phase II. The EGG-X did not affect growth performance of pigs, but increased (P<0.05) pancreas weight relative to BW. The SDPP increased (P<0.05) ADG, and reduced (P<0.05) PUN. The results show that EGG and EGG-X can be sources of AA in pig diets, and their AA digestibility values could be considered when formulating pig diets using the same. Inclusion of EGG in diets for weaned pigs can result in improved growth performance of the pigs. The EGG-X did not affect growth performance of the weaned pigs likely due to increased metabolic activity in the pancreas as evidenced by the increased pancreas size due to the EGG-X.