Effect of baker's yeast on the growth of crossbred pigs

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on growth of Large White Yorkshire x Desi crossbred pigs. Thirty weaned piglets (15 of each sex) of 13.5 kg BW divided into 3 homogeneous groups were offered either control (C), control diet supplemented with bakers yeast 0.25% (BY₁) or 0.5% (BY₂). The pigs fed diet supplemented with 0.5 per cent baker's yeast had higher (P<0.05) gain in BW and better (P<0.01) feed conversion efficiency than those fed control diet. The cost of production per kg BW gain of pigs maintained on C, BY₁ and BY₂ was Rs 36.63, 35.52 and 34.99, respectively. It was concluded that baker's yeast could be included at 0.5 per cent level in the diet for better growth and feed conversion efficiency in crossbred pigs.