EFFECT OF YEAST (SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE) AS FEED ADDITIVE ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF WEANED PIGLETS

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the effect of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a feed additive on the growth performance of weaned piglets. A total of 28 weaned piglets with an average age of 45 days were selected and allocated into four groups of seven piglets each; control group (T₀) with no yeast supplemented, and treatment 1 (T₁), treatment 2 (T₂), and treatment 3 (T₃) with 2%, 4% and 6% yeast-supplemented in their diet respectively. During the 42-day experimental period, the weight gain of the piglets and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) were taken weekly. Average initial body weight was 9.97 ± 1.46 kg for T₀, 9.97 ± 1.14 kg for T₁, 9.83 ± 0.94 kg for T_2, and 9.84 ± 0.90 kg for T₃. The result indicated that the body weight gain differed significantly (p = .014) between different treatment groups. T₁ obtained the highest weight gain (7.27 ± 1.87 kg) when compared to T₀ (4.78 ± 0.69 kg), T₂ (6.80 ± 1.63 kg) and T₃ (6.34 ± 0.90 kg). Moreover, there was a significant difference, (p = .016) in Average Daily Gain (ADG) of the experimental animals between different treatment groups. The ADG was significantly higher for T₁ (0.172 ± 0.045 kg) compared to T₀ (0.113 ± 0.016 kg), T₂ (0.161 ± 0.038 kg) and T₃ (0.150 ± 0.21 kg) proportionately. However, the results suggested that the FCR among the treatment groups did not differ significantly (p = .063). Nevertheless, T₁ (3.91 ± 0.91 kg) showed the lowest FCR compared to T₀ (5.16 ± 0.76 kg), T₂ (4.15 ± 1.14 kg) and T₃ (4.22 ± 0.61 kg) correspondingly. This study concludes that yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a feed additive improved the growth performance of weaned piglets, and piglets supplemented with 2% yeast had a noticeable effect on weight gain, ADG, and FCR compared to the other treatment groups.