Response of a growth promoter in growing pigs in the growth phase

Respuesta de un promotor de crecimiento en cerdos criollos en la fase de

crecimiento

Piedad Francisca Yépez Macias

State Technical University of Quevedo,

Ecuador

pyepez@uteq.edu.ec

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8391-9527

Silvia Yolanda Gómez Carriel

State Technical University of Quevedo,

Ecuador.

silviaycar.gomez@uteq.edu.ec

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7086-7337

Ronny Javier Gaibor Carvajal

State Technical University of Quevedo,

Ecuador.

ronny.gaibor2014@uteq.edu.ec

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2384-0585

pyepez@uteq.edu.ec

http://centrosuragraria.com/index.php/revista, Published by: Edwards Deming Institute,

Quito - Ecuador, October - December vol. 1. Num. 11 2021, This work is licensed under

a Creative Commons License, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.es

Received July 11, 2021

Approved: September 09, 2021

Abstract

This research was carried out at the experimental farm

"La María" belonging to the State Technical

University of Quevedo (UTEQ), located at km 7 of

the Quevedo - El Empalme road. The effect of the

growth promoter Flavomycin was evaluated at three

levels, with the following treatments: (T1) without the

use of the growth promoter; (T1) with the addition of

300 g/ton of feed; (T2) with 500 g/Ton and (T3) with

700 g/Ton. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD)

was applied with four replicates and four replicates.

The variables evaluated were: weight gain, feed intake

(kg/day) and feed conversion. Sixteen CRIOLLOS

pigs, weaned at 28 days of age and weighing 6.83 ±

1.08 kg, were used. For weight gain, significant

statistical differences were found between treatments

according to Tukey's test (P≤0.05), with the best

control treatment without promoter T0 with (13.33)

total weekly gain, followed by treatment T2 500g/Ton

with (13.29) total weekly gain. With respect to feed

consumption, significant differences were found

among the treatments under study according to

Tukey's test (P≤0.05), having a higher consumption

the treatment T2 500/Ton with (42.81) total weekly,

followed by the control treatment without promoter

T0 with (42.35) total weekly. Regarding feed

conversion, significant differences were found

between treatments according to the Tukey test

(P≤0.05), the best CA values were given by the

control treatment without promoter T0 and T1

300g/Ton with 3.18 weekly total.

Keywords: Flavomiciyn, piglets, feed intake, weight

gain, effect.

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

Resumen

La presente investigación se llevó a cabo en la finca experimental “La María” perteneciente a la

Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo (UTEQ), situado en el km 7 de la vía Quevedo – El Empalme.

Se evaluó el efecto del promotor de crecimiento Flavomycin en tres niveles, con los siguientes

tratamientos: (T1) sin la utilización del promotor de crecimiento; (T1) con la adición de 300 g/tonelada

de alimento; (T2) con 500 g/Ton y (T3) con 700 g/Ton. Se aplicó un Diseño Completamente al Azar

(DCA) con cuatro repeticiones y cuatro repeticiones. Las variables evaluadas fueron: ganancia de peso,

consumo de alimento (Kg/día) y conversión alimenticia. Se utilizó 16 cerdos CRIOLLOS, destetados a

los 28 días de edad con 6.83 ± 1.08 kg de peso. Para la ganancia de peso se encontraron diferencias

estadísticas significativas entre los tratamientos según la prueba de Tukey (P≤0,05), siento el mejor

tratamiento testigo sin promotor T0 con (13.33) total semanal, seguido del tratamiento T2 500g/Ton

con (13.29) total semanal. Con respecto al consumo de alimento se encontraron diferencias

significativas entre los tratamientos en estudio según la prueba de Tukey (P≤0,05) teniendo un mayor

consumo el tratamiento T2 500/Ton con (42.81) total semanal, continuo del tratamiento testigo sin

promotor T0 con (42.35) total semanal. En cuanto a la conversión alimenticia se encontraron diferencias

significativas entre los tratamientos según la prueba de Tukey (P≤0,05) los mejores valores de CA

fueron otorgados por el tratamiento testigo sin promotor T0 y T1 300g/Ton con 3.18 total semanal.

Palabras clave : Flavomiciyn, lechones, consumo de alimento, ganancia de peso, efecto.

Introduction

In current times, the management of livestock farms, such as swine, constitutes a means of

livelihood for economic and social growth, based on human nutrition. Pig production is a

complex process, where physiological, nutritional and management factors interact and give,

as a result, the efficiency or inefficiency of the productive and reproductive process, to this

action is added the valuation by measuring the productivity in numerical form, where the costs

of the implementation of raw material and complements are analyzed to initiate an investigation

differentiating with the results obtained and establish if it is profitable.

The pigs of Ecuador have their origin in the Iberian breeds imported during the period of the

conquest. Some remnants of these specimens are found in remote areas of the country, with

their own characteristics and diminished genetic capabilities. Quiroz-Guadarrama et al.(2013),

Benitez (2001)

The growth promoters that exist are: Androgens: which are characterized by being myotrophic

(act directly on muscle cells). The hormone penetrates the cell, attaches to a receptor in the

cytoplasm; it goes to the nucleus. It stimulates the production of an RNA menagerie, which

elaborates an enzyme that acts in the process of protein synthesis Toscano et al.(2020) and

Bavera (2002).

For Jure et al., (2015) indicates that there is a muscular hypertrophy with a decrease in plasma

amino acids and plasma urea with a positive nitrogen balance, with a decrease in urine

excretion and an increase in STH somatotrophin. Androgens are much more potent as growth

promoters than estrogens: they have a more indirect action. They act at the pituitary level,

stimulating the production of somatotrophin (STH), thyrotrophin and adrenocorticotrophin,

hormones responsible for growth and development (ACTH). A considerable increase in the

concentration of growth hormone in plasma after cattle or sheep were treated with estrogens.

Antibiotics are intended to increase weight gain and feed conversion efficiency by adding them

to the feed to minimize secondary bacterial infections and control liver abscesses, common in

feedlot fattening. Those available are: chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, bacitracin and tylosin.

(Quiroz-Guadarrama et al., 2013, p. 65)

For Montoya et al., (2015) in their study indicates that it is characterized by predominance in

the agricultural part since the environment endows to perform these activities due to the

privileged location. However, it is particularly established that the livestock part of the sector

needs to reinforce technician its reproductive methods since this activity generates income to

the Country, being called national economy. Feeding is a predominant factor to carry out this

reproductive process, since pigs need food supplementation since the mothers are in gestation

and pro following the birth to weaning, which is a vulnerable stage where piglets decrease their

body weight and musculature, therefore this critical point must be improved by optimizing the

general condition of the animal (Seger, 2020). (Benítes & Sánchez, 2001) .

Materials and methods

Experiment Location

The research was conducted at the experimental farm "La María", belonging to the State

Technical University of Quevedo (UTEQ), located at km 7 of the Quevedo - El Empalme road,

Rcto San Felipe, Canton Mocache, Province of Los Ríos. It is located between the geographic

coordinates of 01º 06' South latitude and 79º 29' West longitude. At an altitude of 73 meters

above sea level.

Experimental Design

A completely randomized design with four treatments and four replications was used for the

study. Each treatment consisted of one experimental unit with a total of 16 experimental units.

Data analysis was performed by ADEVA and means were separated by Tukey's test (P≤0.05),

using the Infostaf statistical package.

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

Table 1. ADEVA analysis of variance of the experimental design

Experiment management

For this research we proceeded to the elaboration of pens of one square meter per experimental

unit with their respective installations of feeders and drinkers, then we proceeded to the

cleaning and disinfection of the area under study, we used Creole breed piglets of 16 days of

age for the control treatment, growth promoter (Flavomycin) was not includedFor treatment

one 300g/Ton, treatment two 500g/Ton and treatment three 700g/Ton of growth promoter

(Flavomycin), records were kept of the applications of growth promoter, feed consumption and

feed conversion of each experiment and then proceeded to perform the corresponding statistical

analysis.

Table 2. Description of treatments.

Treatments

Description

No promoter

300 g/Ton of Flavomycin

500 g/Ton of Flavomycin

700 g/Ton of Flavomycin

Source of Variation

Degrees of freedom

Treatments

t-1

Error

t(r-1)

Total

tr-1

Result

Initial, weekly and total weight gain

Table 3 shows the weekly and total weight gain, significant statistical differences were found

(P≤0.05), the treatment with the highest weight gain was the treatment (T0) with 13.33 kg,

while the lowest performance was the treatment (T3) with 11.02 kg. Garcés, (2008) in his

studies evaluated the effect of the use of different levels of Natural Zeolite (0, 2, 4 and 6%) in

the feeding of York - Landrace sows, in the growth and fattening stages, determined productive

parameters in terms of weight gain with 33.50 kg with the use of 6% Zeolite, the data expressed

by this author are higher and do not agree with those currently obtained. While Cunuhay,

(2013) investigated, Levels of hydroponic green corn forage in the feed diet in fattening of

crossbred pigs obtained averages of 10.46 kg, these data are consistent with those obtained in

the current research.

Table 3. Statistical averages of the productive factor weight gain (kg) of growing stage Criollo

pigs. FCP. UTEQ.

Week

Weights (kg) per week at Flavomycin insertion levels

T0 without

Promoter

300g/Ton

500/Ton

700g/Ton

1.28b*

1.25b

1.55c

0.92a

3.42

2.03c

1.74b

1.78b

1.40a

2.07

2.42b

2.46b

2.57c

1.96a

1.34

1.76b

2.19d

1.44a

2.03c

1.70

2.61a

2.81b

3.06c

2.59a

1.74

3.24d

2.76b

2.90c

2.13a

1.76

TOTAL

13.33b

13.20b

13.29b

11.02a

0.94

*Averages with equal letters do not show statistical differences according to Tukey's test

(P≤0.05). Prepared by: Authors.

In Graph 1, in the first week, the T2 treatment showed superiority in weight gain, in week two

the T0 treatment or commercial control showed superiority over the other treatments under

study, in the third week the T2 treatment showed superiority in weight gain, but in the fourth

week the same decreases, with the T1 treatment showing the highest rate of weight gain, in the

fifth week the T2 treatment showed superiority, in the sixth week the T0 treatment or

commercial control showed the highest parameter of weight gain, respectively. The treatment

that did not show effectiveness being the least relevant was treatment T3 with the lowest levels

of weight gain, being the one that uses the highest amount of promoter "flavomycin".

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

Figure 1 Weekly weight gain (kg) of Creole pigs at different doses of Flavomycin insertion,

expressed in bars. FCP. UTEQ. Prepared by: Authors.

Graph 2 shows the superiority in the trend curve of treatment T0 with 13.33 kg, being the

commercial control without promoter, followed by treatment T1 with 13.20 kg, being these the

best results respectively, treatment T2 with 13.29 kg and treatment T3 with 14.02 kg, showed

the lowest rate of weight gain.

1 2 3 4 5 6 TOTAL

T0 No Promoter

1,28 2,03 2,42 1,76 2,61 3,24 13,33

T1 300g/Ton

1,25 1,74 2,46 2,19 2,81 2,76 13,20

T2 500g/Ton

1,55 1,78 2,57 1,44 3,06 2,90 13,29

T3 700g/Ton

0,92 1,40 1,96 2,03 2,59 2,13 11,02

0,00

2,00

4,00

6,00

8,00

10,00

12,00

14,00

Weight gain (kg)

Weights (kg) per week at Flavomycin insertion levels.

Figure 2. Total weight gain (kg) at different doses of Flavomycin insertion, expressed as a

trend curve. FCP. UTEQ. Prepared by: Authors.

Weekly and total food consumption.

Regarding the variable total and weekly feed consumption, a statistical difference was found

(P≤0.05), the treatment with the lowest index was T3 with 2.55 kg, at the first week, the same

treatment obtained 10.03 kg, at the sixth week, being the highest index. Ambi, (2011) who

evaluated the application of flavoring in the diet of Landrace-York pigs during the stages of

growth and fattening obtained total averages in the growth stage of 74.30 kg, Consequently

Caballero, (2010) who conducted studies on the Effect of the use of palletized balanced feed

from the beginning to fattening in the pig farm, El Hobo, Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Honduras

obtained weekly average values of 14.83 kg, being higher than those currently obtained. (Table

Table 4. Statistical averages of the feed intake factor. FCP. UTEQ.

Week

Weekly feed consumption (kg) with insertion of Flavomycin

T0 without

Promoter

300g/Ton

500/Ton

700g/Ton

2.72c*

2.64b

2.73c

2.55a

1.18

5.37b

5.29b

5.50c

5.20a

0.85

6.72b

6.86c

6.95d

6.38a

0.52

8.21b

8.08b

8.13b

7.71a

0.84

T0 Sin Promotor;

13,33

T1 300g/Ton; 13,20

T2 500g/Ton; 13,29

T3 700g/Ton; 11,02

0,00

2,00

4,00

6,00

8,00

10,00

12,00

14,00

0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5

Weight gain (kg)

TOTAL

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

9.40a

9.56b

9.75c

9.48ab

0.66

9.94c

9.22a

9.76b

10.03d

0.44

TOTAL

42.35c

41.65b

42.81d

41.34a

0.29

Means with equal letters do not show statistical differences according to Tukey's test (P≤0.05).

Prepared by: Authors.

In Graph 3, treatments T0 with 2.72 kg, commercial control and T2 with 2.73 kg, showed a

similar consumption in week one, but in the second and third week, treatment T2 with 5.50 kg;

6.95 kg, respectively, was superior to the other treatments under study, in week five showed

similarity between treatments, being slightly higher in treatment T2 with 9.75 kg, in the sixth

week, treatments T0 with 9.94 kg, commercial control and T3 with 10.03 kg were higher.

Figure 3. Weekly feed consumption (kg) of Creole pigs at different doses of Flavomycin

insertion, expressed in bars. FCP. UTEQ. Prepared by: Authors.

1 2 3 4 5 6

TOTA

T0 No Promoter

2,72 5,37 6,72 8,21 9,40 9,40 42,35

T1 300g/Ton

2,64 5,29 6,86 8,08 9,56 9,22 41,65

T2 500g/Ton

2,73 5,50 6,95 8,13 9,75 9,76 42,81

T3 700g/Ton

2,55 5,20 6,38 7,71 9,48 10,03 41,34

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

30,00

35,00

40,00

45,00

Feed consumption (kg)

Weekly feed consumption (kg) with

insertion of Flavomycin

Figure 4. Total feed consumption (kg) at different doses of Flavomycin insertion, expressed

as a trend curve. FCP. UTEQ. Prepared by: Authors.

Weekly and total feed conversion.

The feed conversion showed a significant statistical difference, with the highest value

corresponding to treatment T3 with 3.78 and the lowest conversion corresponding to treatment

T0 and T1 with 3.18. On the other hand, the studies of Garcés (2008) show a feed conversion

of 2.92. During the fattening stage, the sows treated with 6% inclusion of Natural Zeolite.

Research conducted by Castro, Santana, & Santana, (2010) who tested the effect of the use of

different levels of prebiotic in the diet of pigs during the growth and finishing phase obtained

variations of 2.89 and 3.22, these data are similar to the current data obtained by the authors

cited above.

Table 5. Statistical averages of Feed Conversion. FCP. UTEQ.

Week

Weekly feed conversion (kg/kg) with insertion of Flavomycin

T0 without

Promoter

300g/Ton

500/Ton

700g/Ton

2.15b*

2.13b

1.75a

2.78c

5.17

2.65a

3.03b

3.08b

3.75c

2.53

2.78b

2.80b

2.70a

3.28c

1.22

4.70b

3.65a

5.65c

3.78a

2.49

3.58bc

3.43b

3.20a

3.68c

2.39

T0 Sin

Promotor; 42,35

T1 300g/Ton;

T2 500g/Ton;

T3 700g/Ton;

41,34

41,20

41,40

41,60

41,80

42,00

42,20

42,40

42,60

42,80

43,00

0 1 2 3 4 5

Feed consumption (kg)

TOTAL

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

3.05a

3.35b

3.40b

4.70c

1.95

TOTAL

3.18a

3.23a

3.78b

1.50

*Averages with equal letters do not show statistical differences according to Tukey's test

(P≤0.05). Prepared by: Authors.

In Graph 5 we observe that in the first week the T2 treatment with 1.75 of A.C. showed

predominance, in the second week the T0 treatment, commercial control reaches the lowest

feed conversion, which is favorable, since we need less feed for meat conversion, in the third

week the T0, commercial control, T1 and T2 treatments remained lower and favorable in feed

conversion, in the fourth week the T1 treatment showed superiority, in the sixth and last week

the T0, commercial control obtained the best CA index.

Figure 5. Weekly feed conversion (kg/kg) of Creole pigs at different doses of Flavomycin

insertion, expressed in bars. FCP. UTEQ.

1 2 3 4 5 6 TOTAL

T0 No Promoter

2,15 2,65 2,78 4,70 3,58 3,05 3,18

T1 300g/Ton

2,13 3,03 2,80 3,65 3,43 3,35 3,18

T2 500g/Ton

1,75 3,08 2,70 5,65 3,20 3,40 3,23

T3 700g/Ton

2,78 3,75 3,28 3,78 3,68 4,70 3,78

0,00

1,00

2,00

3,00

4,00

5,00

6,00

Feed conversion (kg/kg)

Weekly feed conversion (kg/kg) with insertion of

Flavomycin

Figure 6. Total feed conversion (kg/kg) at different Flavomycin insertion doses, expressed as

a trend curve. FCP. UTEQ. 2015

In Graph 6, it is evident in the trend curve that the T0 and T1 treatments show superiority as

they are lower, the T2 treatment with low and favorable feed conversion rates, the highest and

least favorable rate was evidenced in the T3 treatment.

Conclusions

According to the results obtained in the present investigation, the following conclusions were

reached: with respect to weight gain, significant statistical differences were found among the

treatments according to the Tukey test (P≤0.05), with the best control treatment without

promoter T0 with (13.33) weekly total, followed by treatment T2 500g/Ton with (13.29)

weekly total. With respect to feed consumption, significant differences were found among the

treatments under study according to Tukey's test (P≤0.05), having a higher consumption the

treatment T2 500/Ton with (42.81) total weekly, followed by the control treatment without

promoter T0 with (42.35) total weekly. Regarding feed conversion, significant differences were

found between treatments according to the Tukey test (P≤0.05), the best CA values were given

by the control treatment without promoter T0 and T1 300g/Ton with 3.18 weekly total.

T0 Sin Promotor;

3,18

T1 300g/Ton;

T2 500g/Ton;

T3 700g/Ton;

3,78

3,10

3,20

3,30

3,40

3,50

3,60

3,70

3,80

3,90

0 1 2 3 4 5

Feed conversion (kg/kg)

TOTAL

Yepez, et. al

October - December vol. 1. Num. 10 2021

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