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A Meta-Analysis of the Benefits of Micro-Aid ® on Swine Breeding Herd Performance

 

     A meta-analysis combines the results of several experiments that address a common research hypothesis. Results of the meta-analysis are more powerful estimates of the true effect than those derived in a single study under a given single set of assumptions and conditions. Some advantages of a meta-analysis include the ability to control for between study variation, to provide a higher statistical power to detect an effect, and to allow for generalization to the population of studies.

     Extensive research has been conducted to demonstrate the effects of Micro-Aid ® on reducing stillborns, which is a common problem in the swine breeding herd. Eleven distinct comparisons of diets containing Micro-Aid ® to an identical diet without Micro-Aid ® were used in the meta-analysis. From these comparisons, the response variables analyzed were stillbirths/litter and pigs born alive/litter.

     Micro-Aid ® clearly reduced ( P < 0.01) the number of stillborn piglets. Strikingly, the number of stillborn pigs was lower on the Micro-Aid ® treatment than on the Control treatment in all 11 comparisons in which it was measured. The difference is large, as Micro-Aid ® reduced the number of stillbirths by 36.51%, or a reduction of 0.40 stillbirths per litter. No evidence was found that parity affects the reduction in the number of stillbirths when Micro-Aid ® is fed, suggesting that the benefit extends across sows of all ages. Furthermore, there was a numerical increase of 0.35 pigs born alive/litter ( P = 0.11).

     A meta-analysis of experiments evaluating the effects of Micro-Aid ® in the swine breeding herd prove that Micro-Aid ® reduces the incidence of stillbirths at parturition. Because this extensive database includes numerous different management practices, genetic programs, and feeding programs, you can have confidence that Micro-Aid ® will prove beneficial in improving the efficiency of your breeding herd by increasing the pigs produced.

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