2. Material and methods
Ninety-six weaned (21–23 days of age) piglets (L×Y) from
12 litters (6.6 kg body weight) were divided into 4 groups
balanced for sex, weight and litter origin. They were fed a diet
that included extruded maize, soybean meal, extruded full fat
soybean, milk replacer, whey powder, soy bean oil, and a
vitamin-mineral premix formulated to meet the nutrient
requirements of piglets post-weaning piglets (TCN 651-2005).
The diet was offered ad libitum in meal form, without and with
supplementation one of three selected probiotic complexes in a
35-day growth trial.
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from digesta of
healthy fattening pigs and selected through experiments in a
laboratory for resistance to heat, low pH, bile salts, and
antagonism with pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and
E. coli (Viet et al., 2006). Five strains with high antagonistic
activity against pathogens were selected and combined
in different proportions to form 3 different probiotic complexes:
(LAB1) Enterococcus faecium 6H2 (3×108 CFU/g)+