The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of probiotics, prebiotics and herbal extracts as alternatives to antimicrobial agents (as growth promoters) on intestinal microbiology , diarrhea incidence, and on performance of weanling pigs. Two randomized complete block design experiments were carried out during 35 days to compare five treatments: control - basal diet; antimicrobial - basal diet plus Zn bacitracin and olaquindox (50 ppm of each); probiotic - basal diet plus 1,300 ppm of probiotic (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis); prebiotic - basal diet plus 3,000 ppm of mannanoligosaccharide; herbal extract - basal diet plus 500 ppm of herbal extract (garlic, clove, cinnamon, pepper, thyme, cinnamaldehyde, and eugenol). In the Experiment 1, forty 21-d-weaned pigs were alloted to 20 suspended pens, each one with two pigs (one barrow and one gilt) per pen (experimental unit) and four replications per treatment. On 35th day of experimental period, one animal of each experimental unit was slaughtered to collect the content of the jejunum/ileum for microbiological analysis. In the Experiment 2, one hundred and twenty 21-d-weaned pigs composed 12 replications per treatment and two animals (one barrow and one gilt) per experimental unit. Fecal score was daily evaluated to calculate diarrhea incidence. Treatment effect was observed neither on intestinal microbiology nor on diarrhea incidence. The antimicrobial agents improved average daily gain of weanling pigs, during 1-35 (+21.4%) and 15-35 (+22%) days of experimental periods, compared to pigs fed control diet. The probiotic and herbal extract did not improve piglet growth performance. The performance of piglets fed prebiotic was similar to those fed antimicrobials, during 1-14 days of experimental period. However, feed conversion was not improved.
growth promoters; intestinal microbiota; performance; weanling pigs
