Effects of spray-dried porcine plasma replacement with tryptophan, pyridoxine, and niacin supplementation on feed intake and growth performance of weaning piglets

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of feeding a low crude protein diet with supplemental dietary tryptophan in combination with pyridoxine and niacin compared with spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) supplementation on the performance and feed intake of weaning pigs. A total of 36 crossbred (Landrace x Yorkshire x Duroc) weaned female pigs of 28 days old were reared under three dietary treatments. Treatments were 1) corn-soybean meal diet, 2) 0.30% synthetic tryptophan + pyridoxine + niacin, and 3) 5% SDPP. The experimental results indicated no significant difference (P > 0.05) in feed intake for pigs fed the three experimental diets. However, pigs fed the synthetic tryptophan + pyridoxine + niacin diet tended to have better feed intake than those with other treatments, especially during the first 2 weeks after weaning. At the end of the experimental period, pigs fed synthetic tryptophan + pyridoxine + niacin and a basal control diet tended to have the same weight gain and feed efficiency when compared to pigs fed diets with 5% SDPP (P > 0.05). Therefore, the present study suggests that supplemental tryptophan in combination with pyridoxine and niacin may be used as an alternative for SDPP in weaning piglet diets.