Implementing drinking water feed additive strategies in post-weaning piglets, antibiotic reduction and performance impacts: case study

Table 1 Cumulative average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) per week of 140 weaned piglets (21 days) supplied with or without an organic acid (OA) blend in the drinking water and with full or reduced medication program in the feed

	Control	OA + NEO	OA	SED	Trtmt	Block	T x B
Live weight	12.5^a	12.8^a	13.5^b	0.24	<0.001	<0.001	0.008
ADG	0.228^a	0.238^a	0.265^b	0.009	<0.001	0.008	0.008
ADFI	0.40	0.40	0.39	0.024	0.738	0.497	0.229
FCR	1.76^a	1.70^a	1.46^b	0.073	0.001	0.520	0.113
Mortality	0	3	3
Morbidity	3	4	9
Total Mortality + Morbidity	3^a	7^ab	12^b

^a,bMeans in a row with different superscripts differ significantly (P <0.05); Removals were tested for significance via Chi-square analysis, χ2 (2, N = 140) = 5.95, P = 0.051
1. Control - Neomycin sulfate 300 ppm in feed
2. OA + NEO - OA blend at 2 L/1,000 L of water + Neomycin sulfate 300 ppm in feed
3. OA - OA blend at 2 L/1,000 L of water