Evaluation of two mycotoxin mitigation strategies in grow-finish swine diets containing corn dried distillers grains with solubles naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol.

A total of 1,040 growing pigs (initially, 22.9 ± 4.3 kg) were used in a 115-d study to evaluate the effects of 2 mycotoxin mitigation strategies, a preservative blend (PB) and a yeast product (YP), on the growth performance of swine fed diets containing corn dried distillers grains with solubles naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). The PB consists of preservatives, antioxidants, AA, and direct-fed microbials and is included in diets to help pigs cope with the toxic effects of ingested mycotoxins. The YP works as an adsorbent to bind and prevent the absorption of mycotoxins in the gastrointestinal tract. Pigs were allotted to pens by initial BW and sex; pens were then assigned to treatments in a randomized block design with initial BW and sex serving as the blocking factors. Pens were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments consisting of a positive control (PC) containing <1 mg kg(-1) DON, a negative control (NC) formulated to contain 4 mg kg(-1) DON, NC with PB, and NC with YP. From d 0 to 42 and 42 to 84, no effect of diets containing PB or YP were observed for any of the growth criteria evaluated. From d 84 to 115, pigs fed PC or diets containing PB had improved (P < 0.05) ADG compared to pigs fed NC or diets containing YP, whereas pigs fed YP had improved (P < 0.05) ADG compared to those fed NC. Pigs fed diets containing PB or YP had improved (P < 0.05) ADFI and G:F compared to pigs fed NC. Overall (d 0 to 115), pigs fed diets containing PB had improved (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and G:F compared to pigs fed NC. These results indicate that PB may be a suitable mycotoxin mitigation strategy in growing swine fed diets naturally contaminated with DON.