Effects of copper hydroxychloride and dietary fiber on intestinal permeability, growth performance, and blood characteristics of nursery pigs

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that copper (Cu) hydroxychloride improves growth performance and blood characteristics, and reduces intestinal permeability of nursery pigs fed diets without or with inclusion of cereal co-products. In experiment 1, 32 pigs (13.53 ± 1.27 kg) were allotted to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 2 types of diets (low-fiber or high-fiber) and 2 levels of Cu from Cu hydroxychloride (0 or 150 mg/kg). Pigs were adapted to diets for 5 days, followed by the oral administration of lactulose and mannitol on day 6. After administration, urine was collected during two 6 -h periods. Results indicated that pigs fed high-fiber diets tended to have greater (P