The experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of the use of whole fermented soybean (WFS), whole extruded soybean (WES) and soybean meal (SBM) in replacement to the dried milk (MD) of the diet on the performance, feed intake and morphological alterations on the digestive system of piglets from 14 to 35 day and from 14 to 56 days, and its residual effects from 36 to 56 days of age. Ninety-six crossbreed (Landrace x Large White) piglets weaned at 14 days of age were allotted to a completely randomized experimental design with four treatments, four replicates and six animals per experimental unit. The protein source affected the piglets performance from 14 to 35 days and from 14 to 56 days of ages. The piglets that were fed MD based diet showed better weight gain on the first three weeks after weaning and on the total period. However, from 36 to 56 days of age it was not observed the influence of the treatments on the piglets performance. It was observed effect of protein source on villus height (VH) and villus: cripta ratio of pigs slaughtered at 21 days of age, and on the VH of the piglets slaughtered at 35 days of age; pigs fed MD based diets showed higher VH than other treatments. Whole extrude soybean and SBM can replace the MD in diets of piglets weaned at 14 days of age and that the high level of anti-trypsin factors in the WFS compromised the results.
fermented soybean; intestinal morphology; performance; swine
