MANHATTAN, Kan. – Researchers at Kansas State University have been feeding a vitamin supplement to nursery pigs and getting results that may not surprise some.

The K-State group is finding that the pigs use energy more efficiently, and grow at a faster rate than they do without the supplement.

While humans often take vitamins to boost energy, it appears as though pigs experience a similar benefit.

"People look for vitamin supplementation for health," said Bob Goodband, an animal scientist with K-State Research and Extension. "This [study] would be along those lines."

The research centered around using low doses of carnitine, a compound similar to B vitamins. Nursery pigs were fed diets that included approximately 25 parts-per-million (ppm) of dietary L-carnitine per ton of feed.

The low dose and the resulting growth improvements will increase farmer’s profits, Goodband said. Previous studies showed similar growth improvements, but those trials used doses as high as 1,000 ppm, which is cost-prohibitive for swine producers, Goodband said.

Pigs and other animals produce carnitine naturally, but research has shown that giving the animals a small supplement improves the transport of fatty acids into the mitochondria, a process that creates mechanical energy.

The pig is able to utilize energy more efficiently, and grows at a faster rate. Simple economics says that the bigger the pig, the bigger the farmer’s profit.

Researchers at Oklahoma State University found similar results using dietary L-carnitine in nursery pig diets. But because vitamin research is often variable, K-State’s Goodband said he and others are awaiting results from ongoing trials at other universities, and plans to use those results to help develop recommendations for swine producers.