Yucca extract cuts ammonia from pigs

According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, the United States
has an inventory of more than 62 million pigs which reside in less than 100,000
operations. What concerns large swine producers most is the 1.5 tonnes of waste
produced by each pig at 250 pounds at the time it goes to market. The USDA
claims that waste material such as manure, urine and bedding is the single major
source of environmental damage from enclosed animal production.

To deal
with the problem of ammonia, some pig industry professionals use nature-made
products such as a yucca schidigera extract product (De-Odorase®) which can
support the moderation of the ammonia supply to bacteria and help maintain
steady bacterial growth and ammonia
assimilation.

Study
A recent study was conducted by
the National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland; and the University of
Plymouth, in Plymouth, England. It involved allocating 24 Large White crossbred
pigs (12 male and 12 female, 25–30 kg) to three dietary treatments. The
treatments consisted of a control, control plus 120 ppm De-Odorase and control
plus 250 ppm De-Odorase.
For weeks 1-4, the pigs were fed a grower diet and
a finisher diet from week 4 to slaughter. The diets contained 25% crude protein
which was in excess of requirements. The male pigs were removed from the test
house on two occasions during the trial and were placed in metabolism crates to
allow collection of urine and feces. Each animal was measured for weight, weight
gain, feed conversion ratios and dry matter intake.

Results
The researchers found that the addition of
De-Odorase to the diet increased daily liveweight gains by 52 g/day in the 120
ppm-supplemented animals. For pigs supplemented with 120 ppm De-Odorase,
decreases in urine ammonia concentrations of 12–36% were observed in both
studies. Serum urea and ammonia tended to be lower in response to De-Odorase
(120 ppm), with significant reductions in serum ammonia noted at week
6.

Related websites:
USDA     
National University of
Ireland, Galway     
University of Plymouth

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