Evaluation of Live Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC 15 and Curd as Probiotic on Growth Performance and Nutrient Utilization in Early Weaned Crossbred (Landrace x Desi) Piglets

An experiment was conducted to assess the growth performance and nutrient utilization of early weaned piglets fed on diets supplemented with Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC 15 or curd. Thirty six piglets, weaned at 28 d were divided in to three groups (T1, T2 and T3) with 12 piglets in each group having 4 replicates with equal male female ratio of three animals in each replicate following completely randomized design. Piglets were fed concentrate mixture as per NRC (1998). The T1 group was fed basal diet without probiotic, T2 and T3 groups were fed basal diet supplemented with Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC 15, (1.7x10⁹ cfu/g feed) and curd (2.0x10⁹ cfu/g feed), respectively. Supplementation of either of the probiotics, improved total feed intake (P=0.011), average dry matter intake (P=0.013) and various nutrients (DM, OM, CP, EE, CF and NFE) intake (P<0.05) as compared to control piglets. The DM and CP digestibility was significantly (P<0.05) higher in animals of T2 and T3 as compared to control. The total body weight gain and ADG was significantly higher (P<0.001) with better feed efficiency (P=0.008) in the animals of T2 and T3 groups as compared to T1 group. The data indicate that both the probiotics tested were able to ameliorate weaning stress in early weaned piglets as there was improvement in the nutrient utilization and growth performance of probiotic fed piglets. The response of the animals to L. acidophilus and curd was similar therefore curd can also be used as probiotic to make pig farming more profitable.