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The effects of nano zinc oxide (nano-ZnO) on growth performance, diarrhea incidence, immune responses, antioxidant capacity, intestinal microflora, and volatile fatty acid concentrations in weaned piglets were investigated. Crossbred weaned piglets (n = 216), weighing 8.88 ± 1.14 kg, were randomly assigned to one of six treatments with six replicates of six piglets (3 females and 3 castrated males) per treatment fed corn-soybean meal-based diets supplemented with 2.0 g/kg Zn as ZnO, or 0 (control), 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 or 0.6 g/kg Zn as nano-ZnO for 14 days. Selected piglets (n = 36, one piglet per pen) were euthanized on day 14, and the remaining piglets were all fed the same diet from days 15 to 28. During days 1–14 or 1–28, nano-ZnO inclusion in diets improved average daily gain (linear P 0.05). The overall results indicate that dietary supplementation with 0.6 g/kg Zn as nano-ZnO is comparable to pharmacological doses of ZnO (2.0 g/kg Zn) in terms of improving growth performance, reducing diarrhea incidence, enhancing serum immune levels, and promoting antioxidant capacity, as well as regulating the intestinal microflora profile in piglets during days 1–14 after weaning. |
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