Another explanation for the differences between the
faecal microbiota of the sows and the gastrointestinal
microbiota of the suckling piglets might be individual
differences in the intestinal bacterial cell counts of the
sows prior to the dietary inulin treatment. This factor
was also assumed in the study of Starke et al. [17], where
a probiotic Enterococcus faecium strain not only affected
the bacterial cell numbers in the faeces of mother sows.
The authors [17] also observed differences in the intestinal
microbiota of suckling piglets, when the offspring
of the probiotic and non-probiotic treated sows was
compared. However, the probiotic Enterococcus faecium
strain did not modify the intestinal microbiota of sows
and piglets in an equal manner.