Faeces were collected on days 14 and 28 and the population of total anaerobic bacteria, Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp., Clostridium spp. and coliform bacteria were counted.
Two pigs from each pen were bled at days 7, 14, 21 and 28 of the experiment to determine blood hematology and plasma Fe status. An increase in TA concentration reduced linearly overall average daily gain (P < 0.001), feed efficiency (P = 0.021), faecal coliform count (day 14, P = 0.014) and tended to reduce feed intake (P = 0.088).