Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO92/16218 ~ 2 74 PCT/US92/00772
CARNITINE-SUPPLEMENTED DIET FOR STARTER PIGS
Background of the Invention
It has long been desirable to increase feed efficiency,
weight gain, and lean tissue of swine. Work has been performed
with carnitine to achieve certain of these results and some
success has been achieved. G. L. Newton and K. D. Haydon
reported in the 1986 University of Georgia Swine Report that
feeding diets cont~ining 0.95, l.l or 1.25~ lysine, with or
without 0.2% dl-carnitine HCl, to 28 day old nursery pigs had
an effect on daily weight gains and feed efficiency. The pigs
were fed a conventional diet cont~ining 72.4% corn and 24.2%
soybean meal with vitamin, mineral and antibiotic supplementa-
tion. The l.l~ lysine diet produced higher daily gains and
improved feed efficiencies than the other diets. The effect on
daily gain was significant throughout the study, while the
effect on feed efficiency was significant for the first 4 days.
There were also significant linear and curvilinear effects of
lysine level on feed efficiency after 4 and 28 days. Carnitine
did not have a significant effect on performance and did not
alter the need for lysine. However, the results indicated the
,
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CA 02106274 1998-04-14
possibility of a greater response to supplemental lysine when
nursery diets were also supplemented with carnitine. There were
indications that post-weaning lag might be somewhat reduced in
lighter weight pigs.
The results of two supplemental trials conducted to
determine whether addition of carnitine to nursery diets would
have an effect on post-weaning lag were reported in the 1987
University of Georgia Swine Report by G.L. Newton and K.D.
Haydon. In the first trial, 144 pigs were fed simple corn-soy
10 diets containing two levels of lysine and four levels of
carnitine. For the other trial, 180 pigs 28 days of age were
fed complex diets containing milk products and three levels of
lysine and three levels of carnitine. When added to the simple
diet, carnitine tended to produce an increase in feed intake
15 during the first 4 days, which resulted in slightly better gains
and feed efficiency at that time. When added to the complex
diet, carnitine tended to increase food intake over the entire
20 day trial. Carnitine addition resulted in increased weight
gains at 14 and 20 days.
Work with L-carnitine in connection with finishing pigs has
also been conducted. PCT application PCT/US90/04231, published
February 21, 1991, discloses that improved weight gain, fee
efficiency, and reduction of back fat were observed.
In addition, efforts have been made to decrease post-
25 weaning "lag" which has become more of a problem as swine are
weaned earlier and earlier. Research work has been directed
towards a variety of nutritional programs for early weaned pigs
(weaning from 14 to 21 day of age), including high nutrient-
WO92/16218 2 1 0 6 2 7 I PCT/US92/00772
density diets (J. L. Nelssen, "High Nutrient-Density Diets for
Weanling Pigs," Kansas State University Swine Research Report
1986, pages 35 to 50). A major shortcoming of the foregoing
work is that the feed regimes described did not appear to
increase the lean tissue growth.
It has been reported that swine from different genetic
sources (genotypes) have different capacities for lean tissue
growth and that its disposition is affected by the availability
of amino acids. In a 1989 University of Kentucky Research
Report in an article by T. S. Stahly et al., "Influence of
Genetic Capacity for Lean Tissue Growth on the Amino Acid Needs
of Pigs," it was noted that carcass leanness was improved as
dietary lysine levels were raised in connection with pigs in
the 40 to 240 pound range and that pigs with high lean growth
potential had much higher growth performance and lean gain when
the nutrient density of the diet was increased. These results
indicated that some improvement in lean growth, through dietary
manipulation, should be possible with all genotypes.
Summary of the Invention
It has now been discovered that the feeding of early
weaned pigs (often called "starter pigs"), in a timely manner,
with a combination of L-carnitine and a high nutrient-density
diet (HNDD) not only increases average weight gain and feed
efficiency, but also unexpectedly increases the lean tissue
growth in such ~n; ~-1 s . This result is particularly surprising
because starter pigs are in a period of rapid growth where
there is very little fat. (This is in contrast to finishing
WO92/16218 PCT/US92/00772
s, where there is a much higher ratio of fat to lean.) Most
strikingly, this increase in lean tissue is maintained through
the later stages of growth of the pig. It is speculated that
at this stage of the animal's development and with the HNDD,
the L-carnitine actually partitions the nutrients so as to
favor lean accretion, despite the already lean state of the
An;m-l, while at the same time allowing sufficient fat to form
as is necessary for normal growth.
To be effective, it is necessary that the feed regimen
be commenced at a time when the endogenous carnitine synthesis
is very low, i.e., preferably in the period when the pig is
less than about 24 days of age and when the pig is growing at
or near its true genetic potential. The response to the
carnitine-supplemented HNDD will, of course, be more pronounced
for genotypes having high lean growth capacities.
Detailed Description of the Invention
In the practice of the invention, starter pigs from
birth up to 24 days of age having an initial weight of from 3
to 16 pounds are fed the diet of the invention in at least two,
preferably in three, phases. The Phase l diet is for a period
of from one to three weeks, preferably two weeks or until the
body weight is about 15 pounds, and contains from about 5 to
5000 ppm of L-carnitine, preferably about 500 to 2000 ppm,
optimally about lO00 ppm.
In Phase 2, commenced when the pig is about 35 days
old, the diet is ~m; n; stered from two to four wee~s after
Phase l, preferably for three additional weeks. The L-car-
WO92/16218 PCT/US92/00772
21(3~274
nitine is optimally reduced to 500 ppm, but amounts between 250
and 1000 ppm are also effective.
Even after Phase 2, the addition of L-carnitine as a
feed supplement may be advantageous in both the grower stage
(i.e., up to a weight of 160 pounds; approximately 130 days of
age) and the finishing stage. During the grower stage (56 to
160 lb.), the amount of carnitine would be gradually reduced
from 500 to 5 ppm. The maximum during finishing is 50 ppm,
desirably from 5 to 50 ppm. Generally as the weight of the
animal increases, the optimum amount of carnitine decreases.
As mentioned previously, early weaning often refers to
weaning at 3 weeks of age or less. In modern nursery
facilities, pigs are often weaned at 21 days of age onto an
inferior diet, with pigs losing weight the first week postwean-
ing. In fact, weaning at 3 weeks of age in commercial opera-
tions commonly results in nursery pigs ranging in age from 14
to 28 days. Obviously, early weaning results in several
lightweight pigs
(<10 lb.) that require increased nutrient density and diet
palatability to maintain growth on a dry diet To provide
optimum nutritional management for the early weaned pig, a
three-phase starter program during the nursery phase of swine
production was developed at Kansas State University. Listed
below is a description of this starter program, with the
suggested feeding interval for each phase.
Three-Phase Starter Program
Item Description Recommendation
Phase 1 High Nutrient- Fed to pigs until body
W O 92/162~ o ~ ~7 ~ PC~r/US92/00772
Density Diet weight is at least 15 lb.
Phase 2 1.25% lysine, whey, Fed to pigs from 15 to
corn-soybean diet 25 lb.
Phase 3 1.10% lysine, grain- Fed to pigs until body
soybean diet weight is approx. 50 lb.
Starter diets for pigs weaned at 14 to 21 days of age
have been the topic of considerable speculation because of the
variation in results. Swine producers have grown accustomed to
seeing early-weaned pigs experience a postweaning "check",
which often results in increased days to market in their
production unit. In fact, many producers have replaced 21-day
weaning with a 28-day weaning program, simply because of the
adverse performance of pigs during the initial week in the
nursery. A high nutrient-density diet (HNDD) is a type of
milk-based diet that is intended to improve the initial starter
pig performance. Various formulations of HNDD have been tried
in commercial swine production units with variable success.
There are actually two types of HNDD that have been
formulated for early-weaned pigs. The first approach has been
to formulate diets to be as similar to sow's milk as possible,
but in a dry form. Diets based on total milk protein with
added vit~m;ns and minerals are very successful, yet prohibi-
tively expensive. In a similar category is a HNDD formulated
with an understanding of the digestive capacity of the young
pig, but with some awareness for economic constraints. Such
HNDD diets, useful in the practice of the subject invention,
are described in the following Table:
WO92/16218 2 1 0 6 2 7 ~ PCT/US92/00772
Table: Characteristics of a Three-Phase Starter Program
Phase 3
Phase 1 Phase 2 To 50 lb.
Item HNDD Whey Start B o d y
Weight
Protein, % 20-25 18-20 18
Lysine, % 1.5-1.6 1.25 1.10
Added Fat, % 8-10 3-5 --
Dried Edible Whey, %15-25 15-20 0-5
Dried Skim Milk, %10-25 -- --
Fish Meal, % 0-3 3-5 --
Copper, ppm 190-260 190-260 190-260
Vitamin E, IU/ton40,000 40,000 40,000
Selenium, ppm .3 .3 .3
Antibacterial
or Antibiotic + + +
Physical Form 1/8" Pellet 1/8" Pellet Meal Form
As a general matter, the Phase 1 diets (which are
supplemented with carnitine in accordance with the practice of
the instant invention) contain at least 15%, preferably from 18
to 30%, protein; from 30 to 45% dried milk products such as
light edible whey, dried skim milk, and casein; and from 5 to
15% added fat.
In Phase 2, the protein is decreased to less than 25%,
preferably from 15 to 25%; the dried milk products to less than
25%, preferably from 10 to 25%; and the added fat to from about
1 to 5%.
In Phase 3, the diet maintains about the same per-
centage of protein as in Phase 2, the dried milk products are
~ PCT/US92/00772
reduced to less than 10%, and the added fat substantiallyeliminated.
While the term "milk products" is used in the above
description, it should be understood that this term is intended
to include nutritional products which are derived from other
sources and have compositions substantially similar to those
derived from milk. These include soy protein concentrates made
by extracting soy flour with ethanol to reduce the carbohydrate
content, ~soy isolates which further concentrate the protein by
acid extracting soy flour with acid, and plasma protein which
is obtained by the spray drying of porcine or bovine plasma.
The essential factor is to obtain a protein source that has a
solids content similar to that in the mother's milk, i.e., that
is highly digestible protein, very low in carbohydrates with
little antigenicity.
It will be understood that other ingredients are
conventionally added to the diet, as shown in the above table.
The lysine percentages must be carefully controlled, the
amounts used approximating those shown in the above table.
Additional ingredients such as fish meal, trace minerals
including copper and selenium, vitamins, antibacterials and
antibiotics are also added, as is well known to those skilled
in the art.
Conventionally, the diet is fed on an ad libitum basis
in the form of pellets or ground to form a meal, depending on
the age of the pig. The appropriate form of the feed is well
known to those skilled in the art, as are the feeding regimens,
that is, the frequency and amount of diet fed to the ~n;m~l S.
W O 92/16218 2 1 ~ ~ 2 7 ~ PC~r/US92/00772
Those skilled in the art may readily determine the amount of
total feed at the various stages of pig development.
The following table provides the general ranges
applicable to the various stages.
TABLE
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Daily Intake (grams~
Broadly 150-700 400-900 600-1500
Preferred 300-500 500-800 800-1200
Most advantageously, the intake of the diet of the
invention should average greater than 345 grams per day for the
first two weeks, and average greater than 725 grams per day for
the following three weeks. An average over 600 grams per day
over the five weeks is also effective.
To demonstrate the efficacy of the instant invention
attention is directed to the following example:
Example
One hundred eighty weanling pigs (22 + 2 days of age,
initial weight 6 kg) were used to show the effect of feeding
nursery pigs L-carnitine on pig performance and carcass
composition The experimental design consisted of a 2 x 3
factorial arrangement with 0 or 1000 ppm L-carnitine fed in
Phase 1 (0 to 2 weeks) combined with 0, 250 or 500 ppm L-
carnitine in Phase 2 (3 to 5 weeks) Phase 1 diets contained
20% dried skim milk, 20% dried whey, 5% soybean oil and were
formulated to contain 1.45% lysine Phase 2 diets contained
10% dried whey, 5% soybean oil and were form~lated to contain
WO92/16218 PCT/US92/00772
1.25% lysine. Six pigs at 0 and 1000 ppm carnitine level on
day 14 and six pigs at 0 and 500 ppm carnitine level on day 35
(24 total) were sacrificed and ground to determine carcass
composition. In Phase 1, L-carnitine increased (P<.02) feed
intake (FI) and improved (P<.08) average daily gain (ADG), but
had no effect on feed/gain (F/G). In Phase 2, and for the
cumulative 5 week trial, increasing dietary L-carnitine
improved (linear, P<.06) F/G and decreased (linear, P<.05) FI;
however, ADG was not influenced. Carcass dry matter (DM) and
crude protein (CP) were not influenced (P~.15) by dietary L-
carnitine on day 14 or 25. Percent carcass lipid was not
affected by dietary treatment on day 14; however, pigs fed 1000
ppm L-carnitine in Phase 1 had less (P<.05) daily fat accretion
(DFA) on day 35 regardless of whether they were fed carnitine
in Phase 2 or not. Based on the results of this experiment, L-
carnitine addition reduces carcass fat when fed in Phase 1 and
improves F/G when fed in Phase 2.
WO 92/t6218 ~ . PCI'/US92/00772
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