Can calcium formate be fed to prevent the decrease in feed intake and digestion of piglets from weaning?

 At weaning, piglets face many stresses, including dietary, environmental, and social stresses. They are raised separately from sows, which are mainly manifested in decreased feed intake, poor digestion, and impaired intestinal morphology and digestive barrier function. Can farmers feed feed grade calcium formate to prevent and help piglets quickly adapt to these stresses?

As the pig industry is facing continuous pressure from "prohibition of resistance", the microflora of the digestive tract of pigs has become particularly important. Adding calcium formate to the feed can separate free formic acid under the action of gastric acid, reduce the pH value of the stomach, and improve the immunity of animals. The specific functions are as follows:

1. Reduce the pH value in the piglet's gastrointestinal tract and reduce the incidence of diarrhea.

Calcium formate can reduce the pH value of the diet, increase the acidity of the gastrointestinal tract and the activity of digestive enzymes, promote the reproduction of lactic acid bacteria, and inhibit the growth of E. coli and Staphylococcus. The addition of 0.7% and 1% calcium formate to 42-day-old pig diets reduced the pH value of gastric contents from 4.5 to 4.2 and 3.5, respectively, and significantly reduced the number of gastric colon and rectal E. coli. At the same time, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts grow in large numbers, which can effectively prevent digestive disorders and diarrhea caused by bacterial infections.

2. Improve the palatability of diets and promote the growth of piglets.

According to experiments, adding 1%-2% calcium formate in the diet can increase the feed intake of piglets by 5.2%-19.8%, increase the daily gain of piglets by 9%-38.67%, and increase the feed conversion rate by 11%-15%. And adding calcium formate is better than adding other organic acids. The main reason for adding calcium formate to promote growth is to make a good microflora in the digestive tract, which can reduce the destruction of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract and the production of toxins, increase the synthesis of nutrients and protect the gastrointestinal tract.

3. Regulate the emptying speed of the stomach and promote the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

After adding 5% calcium formate to the piglet's diet, the pH value in the stomach and jejunum decreased. After the acidic chyme enters the small intestine, it secretes enterostatin by chemically stimulating the wall of the small intestine, which slows down the gastric emptying speed and the movement speed of food in the intestine, prolongs the residence time of food in the stomach, and makes the food and Digestive juices such as saliva and gastric juice are fully mixed, which is conducive to the digestion and absorption of nutrients in food. At the same time, calcium formate can form a chelate complex with the essential mineral elements Cu, Fe, P, Zn, Mg, etc., which are easy to be absorbed and utilized, and has high biological potency, which promotes their absorption and retention. The main reason is that some mineral elements are easy to form insoluble and difficult to absorb salts in the alkaline gastrointestinal tract, while calcium formate can lower the pH value of the intestines and promote the absorption and utilization of minerals in feed by fat.

4. Directly used as a dietary ingredient to promote the metabolism of piglets.

The addition of calcium formate in the diet can reduce the loss of piglets due to gluconeogenesis and lipid hydrolysis. It can promote the electron transport system and the activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase when synthesizing ATP in the body, and it has a positive effect on the formation of ATP and the total biological activity. The accumulation of weight plays an important role to promote the metabolism of piglets and enhance the utilization of energy and amino acids.

5. Prevent feed oxidation and reduce the stress of weaning piglets.

Calcium formate is a synergist of feed antioxidants, and its mechanism of action is to block metal ions in the feed, making it unable to catalyze the oxidation reaction. At the same time, due to the low feed intake of early weaned piglets, the poor utilization of sugar and protein feeds, the higher the incidence and mortality of diarrhea. The calcium formate in the feed can promote the secretion of gastric juice and digestive enzymes, and effectively overcome the weaning stress of piglets.

Weaning is the most serious stress event in the pig industry, and it is also a real bottleneck restricting pig production. Resistance prohibition and reduction are the biggest challenges to global pig breeding. Therefore, feed grade calcium formate can inhibit the proliferation of microorganisms, and is also a safe and effective organic acid calcium commonly used to deal with microorganisms in bans.