Feeding antibiotics to pigs to prevent diseases may encourage development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by giving them all low levels of drugs.
However, if only some of the pigs get the low levels of antibiotics, disease could erupt in the barn and cause many pigs to be fed high doses of antibiotics, which could also encourage the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
This conundrum can’t be solved by relying only on antibiotics, University of Manitoba animal science researcher Denis Krause told the Manitoba Swine Seminar.
As antibiotic-resistant diseases arise, there will be more calls to ban wide scale use of antibiotics in agriculture. So farmers may have no choice but to learn to live without the antibiotic crutch.
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Many producers think intensive livestock production would be impossible without the low-dose use of antibiotics in feed, but producers in Europe, where antibiotics have become restricted, have found a number of dietary approaches that seem to reduce disease outbreaks in pigs. These include probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids, enzymes and herbs.
“It may be possible to use these alternatives in combination to achieve the same effect that antibiotics have on pig performance and health,” said Krause.
Probiotics are bacterial cultures added to feed that cause the bacteria to grow inside the animal, blocking harmful bacteria and providing some nutritional benefits themselves.
In humans, probiotics in fermented dairy products have reduced both lactose intolerance and some forms of diarrhea.
Prebiotics in feed promote the growth and activity of positive bacteria inside the animal. Some prebiotics have been able to reduce post-weaning diarrhea in piglets and increase mineral absorption.
Organic acids added to feed can act as growth promoters by making the animal’s gut inhospitable to bad bacteria and some enzymes have been shown to increase nutrient availability in pig feed.
