12 www.pigchamp.com Spring 2025 ABC-4 management can be achieved by avoiding ingredients known to have a high ABC-4 or by using more ingredients with a low or negative ABC-4. Stas et al. (2025) observed performance improvements when complete nursery diets had an ABC-4 of around 200 to 250 mEq/kg. The acidification of swine diets can be achieved by using an individual acid or blends of organic (such as fumaric, lactic, benzoic, or citric) and inorganic (hydrochloric or phosphoric) acids. Thanks to their potentially synergistic activities, blends of acidifiers could provide the most optimal responses. In a recent meta-analysis of 52 publications, Wang et al. (2022) concluded that blends of acids are superior to individual acids and consistently improve the average daily gains (ADG) and feed efficiency (F/G) of nursery pigs. Recently, the Alltech pork technical team conducted a series of four commercial-scale research trials to evaluate the effects of a blend of organic and inorganic acids (in the form of Alltech’s Acid-Aid) on the growth performance and health outcomes of nursery pigs. The results of these four studies were recently presented at the 2025 ASAS Midwest Section Meeting (Faccin et al., 2025; Hart et al., 2025). In trial 1 (Table 1), 2,529 nursery pigs were studied to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of the acidifier blend included in their diets, ranging from 0% to 0.47% (9.4 lbs./ton) for 16 days after weaning. The results of this pilot study showed a tendency for linear improvements in F/G as well as numerical improvements in ADG when the acidifier blend was included in the diet. Trial 2 (Table 2) was conducted to further elucidate the responses and included two levels of the acidifier: 0% or 0.235% (4.7 lbs./ton). In this trial—which also featured a total of 2,592 pigs and lasted through 16 days after weaning—pigs fed diets with the acidifier blend recorded a 4.7% improvement in their ADG and a 2.7% improvement in their F/G. Trial 3 (Table 3) compared the impacts of a control diet (with no acidifiers), the acidifier blend (0.265%), and pure benzoic acid (0.50%) on 1,081 pigs for the first 18 days after weaning. The inclusion levels of the acids were adjusted to achieve the same ABC-4 as in the complete diet. Consistent with the results of the previous trials, a significant improvement in ADG was observed in correlation with the acidification strategies. In contrast to the previous trials, however, the driver of that response was feed intake and not F/G. Finally, trial 4 (Table 4) studied 973 pigs to evaluate the effects of the acidifier blend or benzoic acid, similar to trial 3, with the exception that these pigs were fed the acidifiers throughout the entire 41day nursery period. Furthermore, the pigs used in trial 4 were by far the youngest, smallest, and most health-challenged group of pigs in this series of trials. Those facts may help explain the magnitude of the Table 3. Effects of the inclusion of different acidifiers in early nursery diets on pig performance (Trial 3)1,2 Table 4. Effects of the use of different acidifiers throughout the nursery phase on pig performance (Trial 4)1,2
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