The role of zeolite in pig production

Growth promoting properties
Some relevant studies have proven that zeolite as a feed additive can promote pig growth performance without negatively affecting pig health. Adding a low proportion of 1%-2% natural clinoptilolite to feed can have a significant impact on pig growth. Feeds containing zeolite can improve the average daily weight gain and/or feed conversion rate of pigs, and can also improve the production performance of sows. Adding zeolite to feed can slow down the passage of food through the digestive tract, thereby improving nutrient utilization. The effect of zeolite is mainly related to the following parameters: the type, purity, geographical origin, physical and chemical properties of zeolite, the proportion of zeolite in the feed, as well as the feed and environmental conditions required to ensure that the function of zeolite continues to act on animals.
Tests have proven that feed additives containing 50% calcium formate, 8% formic acid and 42% natural clinoptilolite can increase the growth rate of pigs and improve the feed conversion rate of pigs. Adding 1.5% of the above additives to the feed can increase the weight gain of the animals in the test group to 13.4 kg in the first month, while the corresponding weight gain in the control group is 8.3 kg; the daily weight gain in the test group is 0.47 kg, and the weight gain in the control group is 0.47 kg. 0.29 kg; the feed-to-meat ratio of the test group was 3.13, while that of the control group was 4.7.
Disease prevention and treatment
A large number of tests have proven that zeolite can alleviate and prevent the toxic effects of some compounds, heavy metals and ammonia, which is of great significance to the food safety of livestock products. The use of zeolites for the binding and adsorption of mycotoxins is a currently hot research topic. In addition, some studies have shown that adding zeolite to feed has a positive effect on reducing the incidence of pig diarrhea syndrome and alleviating the condition, but the exact mechanism of zeolite's effect is not clear. The possible mechanisms by which zeolite prevents specific diseases in pigs are shown in Table 2.
Reduce ammonia emissions
Because pig excrement contains NH3 and NH4+, intensive pig production will produce a large amount of ammonia. Excessive ammonia emissions will cause environmental pollution. The NH3 level in the growth environment of pigs often exceeds the standard. Pigs usually Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of NH3 will cause temporary or lasting changes in the pig's olfactory sensitivity, which will further affect the pig's individual recognition, social relationships, feeding behavior and other related odors such as signaling hormones. identification, these will have an adverse impact on pig production and welfare to a certain extent.
Adding zeolite to the feed can absorb NH4+ in the gastrointestinal tract, converting most of the nitrogen that was originally excreted in the form of urine into feces, thus reducing the concentration of ammonia in the atmosphere.
Conclusion
Zeolite is very safe as a feed additive and plays a very positive role in improving pig growth performance and preventing diseases. Zeolite also has the characteristics of large distribution and easy mining. Therefore, as an efficient and low-cost feed additive It can be more widely used in pig production. At the same time, zeolite can improve social issues such as food safety, environmental protection and animal welfare in pig production, thereby making pig production more in line with the requirements of the times. Existing problems: The relationship between the proportions of zeolites of different types and purity in feed and pig growth and disease prevention, as well as the specific physiological mechanism of zeolites blocking various toxins in the process of disease prevention, etc. need to be further studied in the future.