DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF GANODERMA LUCIDUM POWDER ENHANCES SURVIVAL AND IMMUNOCOMPETENCE OF WEANING PIGS

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of Ganoderma lucidum (GL) on growth performance, survival rates, and immunocompetence of the weaning pigs. A total of 45, 28-day-old Landrace weaning pigs were randomly divided into three groups of 15 pigs each. A corn–soybean meal-based control diet was formulated and the experimental diets included 0.3% and 0.6% GL powder. The groups were treated for 38 days. Pigs which fed both concentration of GL powder had significantly higher ([Formula: see text]) survival rates than the control group. Besides, pigs which fed 0.3% and 0.6% GL powder had increased lymphocyte proliferation indexes ([Formula: see text]) and the titer of neutralizing antibody against hog cholera (HC) ([Formula: see text]) on day 66 compared with pigs which fed control diet. No differences were found between treatments regarding the average daily gain (ADG), gain:feed (G:F) ratio and diarrhea score. Supplementation of GL powder showed no effects on aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN), which suggested that GL treatment has no immediate harm on liver or kidney. Based on these results, GL could be suggested as a potential feed additive of weaning pig diets to increase survival rate and immunocompetence.