Maternally offered seaweed extracts improves the performance and health status of the postweaned pig

A 2 x 2 factorial experiment was designed to investigate the effects of maternal dietary supplementation with a seaweed extract (SWE; 0 vs. 10.0 g/d) from d 109 of gestation until weaning (d 28) and supplementation of a SWE to postweaned pigs on production performance. Fifty crossbred pregnant sows (Large White x Landrace genetic lines) were selected and randomly assigned, accounting for parity and anticipated farrowing date, to 1 of 2 dietary treatments (n = 25/treatment): 1) basal lactation diet and 2) basal diet supplemented with 10.0 g SWE (LactoShield) daily. At weaning, 100 pigs (7.8 kg [SD 1.42] live weight; 2 pigs per sow) were assigned to 1 of 2 dietary treatments based on the sow diet during lactation and supplemented with a SWE for 126 d (0 vs. 300 mg/kg of laminarin and 240 mg/kg of fucoidan; NeoShield), resulting in 4 treatment groups: basal sows and basal piglets (T1), basal sows and SWE-treated piglets (T2), SWE-treated sows and basal piglets (T3), and SWE-treated sows and SWE-treated piglets (T4). Pigs weaned from SWE-supplemented sows had a significantly (P < 0.05) higher ADG during the postweaning period (Day 0-28) compared with pigs weaned from non-SWE-supplemented sows. Pigs weaned from SWE-supplemented sows had a significantly higher (P < 0.05) ADG during the grower-finisher period (d 28-126 after weaning) compared with pigs weaned from non-SWE-supplemented sows. The SWE supplementation after weaning had no effect on growth performance (P > 0.05); however, it caused a deterioration in the feed conversion ratio during the finisher period (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these results demonstrate that maternal dietary SWE supplementation may provide a means to enhance the lifetime growth performance of pigs up to market weight.