The analysis of the treatments on animal performance revealed a PRE effect on increasing the ADG between 14 and 18 days (165, 265, 222, and 291 g/day for CTR, LAC, LPN, and SYN, respectively; P < 0.05). However, neither ADFI nor G/F showed significant differences between treatments.
Diarrhea incidence was recorded daily after the ETEC K88 challenge (Fig. 1). The oral ETEC K88 challenge promoted a mild-moderate self-limiting course of diarrhea. No therapeutic treatment of any animals was required, and there were no mortalities. One day postchallenge, there was an increase in the percentage of animals with diarrhea decreasing afterwards (day effect, P = 0.007). The inclusion of the probiotic in the diet (PRO effect) showed a trend to reduce the incidence of inconsistent to liquid feces (P = 0.09).