| Popis: |
Abstract This study was conducted to assess the use of dietary acidifiers and their effects on the growth performance and intestinal morphometry of challenged and non-challenged nursery piglets. A total of 18,597 piglets distributed across 1,300 experimental groups from 128 papers published between 1984 and 2020 were included in the meta-analysis. All treatments were categorized as negative control (CON), organic acid (OAC), salts of organic acids (SAL), and blends of acidifiers (BLE). The presence (+) or absence (-) of health challenges in each study was also considered. The meta-analysis was conducted sequentially via graphical, correlation, and variance-covariance analyses. Piglets weighed between 8.4 and 15.8 kg and were assessed at 29.4-48.3 days of age. The addition of OAC, BLE, and SAL to the diets improved the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of piglets (P |
