Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Effect of feeding concentrates of Lactobacillus lactis on fecal bacterial flora, scouring, and weight gain in swine

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  • A frozen concentrate (>10⁹ cfu/ml) of a human strain of Lactobacillus lactis (strain MLC) was fed to swine. Bottle feeding resulted in reduced fecal coliform counts and incidence of scouring in nursing pigs. In one group of pigs treated 54 days, the Lactobacillus to coliform ratio was 1280:1; in the control group the ratio was 2:1. The continued suppression of coliforms by the MLC Lactobacillus strain after treatment was discontinued was observed for 30 days. One hundred twenty-five pigs and their dams were fed concentrates of Lactobacillus lactis MLC through the drinking water system using a commercial water proportioner. The pigs were managed by normal husbandry practices which included a ration containing antibiotics. A significant reduction in coliform counts in the treated pigs was seen by the third week of treatment; and after thirteen weeks of treatment the coliform counts were reduced by 96%. A. significant reduction in coliform counts was also seen in the control pigs by the fifth week of the experiment. The coliform counts in the treated pigs, however, were significantly lower than those of the controls by the third week and thereafter during the experiment. Lactobacillus counts did not increase significantly higher in the treated pigs than in the controls; however, the Lactobacillus to coliform ratio changed from 1:1 to 30:1, and the percentage of coliforms in the total aerobic flora dropped from 21% to 1%. Incidence of scouring was less in the treated pigs than in the control pigs, and there were indications of improvement in weight gain performance in the treated pigs. A. similar experiment was conducted in which antibiotics were withheld from the ration. Reduction in coliform counts was significant in treated pigs by the third week of the experiment and reached 99% by seven weeks treatment. There was no significant reduction in conform counts in the control pigs during the experiment, and Lactobacillus counts increased significantly higher in the treated pigs than in the controls. A. shift in the balance of fecal. bacteria was seen in the treated pigs with a change in the Lactobacillus to coliform ratio from 1:1 to nearly 300:1, and a reduction in the percentage of coliforms in the total aerobic flora from 37% to less than 1%. Scouring was not reduced in the treated pigs; weight gain in both the treated and control groups was similar and substandard. The influence of feeding the Lactobacillus lactis MLCconcentrate to sows was studied. The Lactobacillus MLC concentrate had no effect on the fecal or vaginal flora of the sows, and the fecal flora developed similarly in pigs from treated and control sows. The pattern of development of the fecal Lactobacillus and coliform flora in newborn pigs during the first 48 hours after birth was studied. Lactobacilli were detected in the feces of newborn pigs as early as four hours after birth and coliforms were detected by eight hours. Coliforms generally surpassed the lactobacilli in number during the first day and remained near ten times greater in number up to 48 hours. By six weeks age, however, the coliforms had decreased in number and the lactobacilli had increased in number to become the dominant flora. A positive correlation between low coliform counts and high Lactobacillus counts during the first 48 hours with high weaning weights was detected, and regression of weaning weight on early coliform and Lactobacillus counts in the pigs studied was found to be significant. The ecology of autochthonous colonizing bacteria and the nature of the host- symbiote relationship which exists between an animal species and its colonizing lactobacilli are discussed. The potential of the use of Lactobacillus organisms in preventive treatment of intestinal diseases and the importance of these studies to the swine producer are pointed out. It is suggested that lactobacilli native to the animal species with which they are used may be required in order to realize the full potential of Lactobacillus therapy.
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