Response of Young Pigs to Flavomycin

Abstract

Many substances with no feed values are routinely included in the diets of pigs with the intention of improving production efficiency through improved growth rate, increased or decreased feed intake, improved feed efficiency and decreased disease incidence (Pond and Manner, (974). The use of these so-called Non-nutritive additives is likely to continue as long as the substances continue to improve production efficiency without posing hazards to human lives through their cumulative effects in carcasses. Flavomycin, an antibiotic which was isolated and developed in West Germany is an accepted growth promoter in pig diets in most countries of the world and is known to have no hazards to human lives since it is not absorbed from the gastro~intestinal tract of the animal (Waldoup et al.. (970). There are, however, no reports available in Kenya on the growth promoting properties of ftavomycin in pig diets.