Effect of feeding probiotics and milk powder supplemented creep ration on the growth performance and efficiency of feed utilization in pre-weaning piglets

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of creep feeding and its enrichment with probiotics and milk powder on the growth performance and efficiency of feed utilization in pre-weaning piglets. For the study, 28 piglets of uniform size and body weight were selected from four litters of Hampshire sows of similar parity and allocated to 4 different dietary groups: T0 (fed conventional creep feed alone, control), T1 (fed 5% milk powder supplemented creep feed), T2 (fed probiotics supplemented creep feed added at 1g per kg creep feed) and T3 (fed creep feed supplemented with 5% milk powder + probiotics at 1g per kg creep feed). The experimental protocol was followed upto weaning age. Body weights at 8th week of age was found to be significantly (P<0.01) higher in the treatment groups as compared to the control group. Piglets getting combined supplementation of milk powder and probiotics (T3) had highest (P<0.01) feed consumption with better feed gain ratio followed by T2, T1 and T0 groups. It was concluded that supplementation of probiotics and milk powder in the creep ration of suckling piglets resulted in a positive impact on their growth performance with an efficient feed utilization.