Post-weaning lag in nursery pigs is still a problem in the swine industry. It causes detrimental effects in the nursery pig. The abrupt change in diet, sow milk to dry feed, produces a decrease in gastrointestinal enzyme activity, intestinal damage to the villi, low voluntary intake, and many more negative impacts on the newly-weaned pig. When subtherapeutic antibiotics are supplemented to a high nutrient dense diet, post-weaning lag is reduced. Subtherapeutic antibiotics improve growth performance, and decrease mortality and diarrhea in nursery pigs. However, there is a growing concern of antibiotic
65
use in the livestock industry because of the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, with that being said, it is hard for the swine industry to just abandon the use of antibiotics because of all of the beneficial effects they provide. Numerous research has been conducted looking at replacing antibiotics in feed, but the results are variable. Thus, other means should be researched due to consumer concern. A possible replacement for subtherapeutic antibiotics is turmeric, or the most active component in turmeric, curcumin. Turmeric and curcumin have many properties, including anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial. Therefore, the addition of turmeric or curcumin to nursery diets has the potential to perform as well as, if not better than, subtherapeutic antibiotics