Login | Request Account (DAF staff only)

Tolerance of pigs to sorghum ergot (Claviceps africana) during growth and finishing, and effect on conception of replacement gilts

Share this record

Add to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to XAdd to WechatAdd to Microsoft_teamsAdd to WhatsappAdd to Any

Export this record

View Altmetrics

Kopinski, J.S., Blaney, B.J. and Downing, J.A. (2008) Tolerance of pigs to sorghum ergot (Claviceps africana) during growth and finishing, and effect on conception of replacement gilts. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 48 (5). pp. 672-679. ISSN 0816-1089

[img]
Preview
PDF
322kB

Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1071/EA07326

Abstract

Two batches of sorghum infected with ergot were incorporated into nutritionally balanced grower and finisher diets that contained 0, 5 or 10 mg alkaloid/kg (0, 4 or 8 mg dihydroergosine/kg), or 10 mg alkaloid/kg (8 mg dihydroergosine/kg) plus 1% zeolite. The contents of ergot sclerotia in the 10 mg/kg diets were ~2% in one batch and 4% in the other; the latter batch had a heavy secondary fungal infection of Cerebella sp., which tends to limit alkaloid accumulation. These diets were each fed to four male and four female pigs as they grew from 20 to 90 kg. There were no deleterious effects on growth, feed intake and conversion even with lower plasma prolactin of 0.1 µg/L in ergot-fed pigs compared with ~1 µg/L in the control pigs. Zeolite did not counteract the ergot reduction of prolactin and had no effect on performance. Male pigs were then slaughtered, but females continued to be fed the diets for a further 3 months, when they were brought into oestrus and artificially inseminated. One month after pregnancy was confirmed, they were slaughtered and fertility was assessed. There were no significant differences in the numbers of corpora lutea or embryos between pigs fed ergot and control diets.

Item Type:Article
Subjects:Plant pests and diseases > Individual or types of plants or trees > Sorghum
Animal culture > Swine
Animal culture > Feeds and feeding. Animal nutrition
Live Archive:20 Feb 2024 02:23
Last Modified:20 Feb 2024 02:23

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics