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Efficacy of Mannan Oligosaccharide (Bio-Mos ® ) Addition With and
Without Copper Sulfate in the Diets of Growing-Finishing Pigs
E. Davis, D. Brown, B. de Rodas, C. Maxwell, and Z. Johnson 1
Story in Brief
An experiment involving 144 crossbred barrows and gilts was conducted to determine the efficacy of Bio-Mos ®
in improving performance of growing-finishing pigs fed diets devoid of antibiotics and with and without growth promoting
levels of copper sulfate. Pigs were sorted by BW and divided into six weight groups with 24 pigs in each group.
Pigs within each group were allotted into four pens (six pigs/pen) and stratified by sex and litter. Treatments were randomly
assigned to pens within each weight group (six pens/treatment). Dietary treatments were fed throughout the
starter (44 to 71 lb BW), grower (71 to 151 lb BW), and finisher (151 to 234 lb BW) phases. Diets consisted of two levels
of copper sulfate (10 ppm in starter, grower, and finisher diets vs. 185 ppm in starter and grower diets and 135 ppm
in finisher diets) with and without Bio-Mos ® (0 vs. 0.2% in starter, 0.1% in grower, and 0.05% in finisher). Average
daily gain and F/G improved (P = 0.02) in the starter phase when pigs were fed diets containing 185 ppm of additional
copper compared to pigs fed 10 ppm copper. Feed/gain improved (P = 0.01) in the grower phase when pigs were fed
185 ppm copper compared to pigs fed 10 ppm copper. During the finisher phase, ADG improved with the addition of
Bio-Mos ® in pigs fed 10 ppm copper, but decreased when Bio-Mos ® was supplemented in diets with 135 ppm of additional
copper (interaction, P = 0.04). This study indicates that copper sulfate addition to the diets of growing-finishing
pigs at pharmacological levels improves gain and efficiency, while response to Bio-Mos ® addition was dependent upon
the level of copper in the diet.
Introduction
Growth promoters such as antibiotics and pharmacological
levels of copper are commonly added to the diets of
growing swine to improve health and performance. Copper
sulfate is often added to the diets of growing-finishing pigs as
a growth promoter, however the high concentrations of copper
in manure applied to land has prompted concern about
soil copper toxicity. Concerns about environmental problems
that accompany additions of high levels of trace minerals in
swine diets have challenged the swine industry to explore
alternative products to promote growth. Bio-Mos ® (Alltech,
Nicholasville, KY) is a mannan oligosaccharide derived from
the cell wall of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that has
resulted in improved gain and efficiency when added to the
diets of weanling pigs (Davis et al., 1999; Davis et al., 2000).
The response to Bio-Mos ® in the diets of growing-finishing
pigs has not been explored. This experiment was conducted
to assess the potential of Bio-Mos ® to promote gain and efficiency
in growing-finishing pigs to levels comparable to the
addition of pharmacological levels of copper.
Experimental Procedures
A total of 144 crossbred barrows and gilts were moved
from nursery facilities, sorted by BW, and divided into six
weight groups (blocks) with 24 pigs in each group. Pigs within
each weight group were allotted into four equal subgroups
(six pigs per pen) with stratification based on sex and litter.
Dietary treatments were randomly assigned to pens within
each of the six weight groups (six pens per treatment). Pigs
were fed in three phases with transition from starter to grower
phase occurring 3 weeks from the initiation of the experiment.
Transition from grower to finisher occurred when the
mean weight of each weight block reached approximately
150 lb, and the study was terminated by weight group as each
block reached an average of 235 lb.
Four dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 x 2 factorial
and fed throughout the starter (44 to 71 lb BW), grower
(71 to 151 lb BW), and finisher (151 to 234 lb BW) phases
(Table 1). Diets consisted of two levels of inorganic copper
(10 ppm in the starter, grower, and finisher diets vs. 185 ppm
in starter and grower diets followed by 135 ppm in finisher
diets) with and without the addition of Bio-Mos ® (0 and 0.2,
0.1, and 0.05% in the starter, grower, and finisher phases,
respectively). Pigs received a corn-soybean meal diet formulated
to contain 1.10%, 0.96%, and 0.85% lysine during the
starter, grower, and finisher phases, respectively.
Substitutions in all diets were made at the expense of corn.
Pig BW and feed intake were determined at the initiation
and termination of each phase to determine ADG, ADFI,
and F/G. Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block
design with pen as the experimental unit and blocks based on
1 All authors are associated with the Department of Animal Science, Fayetteville.
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