A total of 144 weanling pigs (1871 dofage) with an aver age BWof5.4870.65kg were used in a28-d trial to evaluatetheeffectsofdietarylevansupplementationongrowth
performance,nutrientdigestibilityandfecaldrymattercontentincomparisonto
apramycin(antibacterialgrowthpromoter)inweanlingpigs.Pigswererandomly
allocatedintofourtreatmentswithtwolevelsofapramycin(0or165mg/kg)andtwo
levels oflevan(0or1g/kg).There were six replication spertreatmentwithsixpigsper
pen (threebarrowsandthreegilts).Dietswerefedintwophases:phase1(fromd0to14)
and phase2(fromd15to28).Administrationofeitherlevanorapramycinimproved
(Po0.05) averagedailygain(ADG)duringphase1andoverall.Pigsfedapramycinhad
greater(Po0.05)ADGandgain:feedratiothanpigsfedotherdietsinphase2.Inaddition,
the apparenttotaltractdigestibilityofdrymatter,nitrogenandgrossenergywas
increased (Po0.05) inresponsetoeitherlevanorapramycintreatmentsduringphase
1.Apramycinadministrationdecreased(Po0.05) fecalDMcontentfromd0to14,
whereas levandecreased(Po0.05) fecalDMcontentfromd15to28.Theresultsofthe
current studyindicatedthatlevanhadsomegrowthpromotingeffectssimilarto
antibioticsinweanlingpigs