Evaluation of Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic supplementation on reproductive performance and noxious gas emission in sows

The impacts of probiotics supplementation on reproduction performance and noxious gas emission in sows was evaluated in an experiment with a total of thirty sows (second-parity), from 4 weeks prior to farrowing, to day 21 of lactation. The gestation and lactation diets of sows were supplemented with probiotics containing Bacillus subtilis (1.2 × 107 cfu/g) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (1.15 × 106 cfu/g). Treatment included: basal diet (CON), basal diet + 0.1% probiotics (PB0.1), and basal diet + 0.2% probiotics (PB0.2). The supplementation of dietary probiotics significantly improved average daily feed intake during the lactation period (quadratic, P = 0.0429), sow backfat thickness during the weaning period (linear, P = 0.0385), and initial body weight of piglets (linear, P = 0.0054) as compared with CON, respectively. Furthermore, the supplementation of dietary probiotics reduced noxious gas emission as compared with CON (linear, P<0.05 for day 5 and day 10), respectively. In conclusion, dietary probiotics containing B. subtilis and L. acidophilus improved the growth performance of sows, resulted in increased weaning body weight of piglets, and induced an effective and significant reduction in fecal noxious gas emission in lactating sows, as compared with CON.