Reproductive performance of piglets fed with mineral feed supplement

Mineral elements are important in balancing the nutrients in the animal diet. The aim of the research was to study the effect of a mineral feed additive on the reproductive performance of piglets. The studied mineral feed additive attracts bacteria of polar membranes due to the copper of the positively charged clay surface. Bacteria (gram-positive and gram-negative) attract the mineral additive due to the difference in electrical charges between their cell membrane and copper-zeolite particles. If it gets on the bacterial membrane, contact with the mineral additive is disrupted. The bacteria can no longer exchange normally with the environment and die. The piglets of the control group were fed the main compound feed, and the experimental group used a copper sulfate feed additive in different doses in accordance with the experimental scheme in addition to the diet. During semen collection at the enterprise, a moderate regime of use of breeding boars is used: semen collection takes place within 4 days, and then the boars rest. With additional consumption of mineral supplements by breeding boars, the volume of ejaculate increases in the 2nd group by 6.9 % (P ˂ 0.01), in the 3rd by 18.9 % (P ˂ 0.001) and in the 4th by 22.9 % (P ˂ 0.001), compared to the control value. The use of copper sulfate feed additive increases the concentration of sperm in the 2nd group by 8.3 % (P ˂ 0.01), relative to the control. It was recorded that the use of mineral feed additive in pig feeding positively affects the number of sperm with rectilinear translational movement, in the 3rd group of boars by 8.6 % (P ˂ 0.01) and in the 4th by 6.5 % (P ˂ 0.05) there are more of them than in the control. It was found that under the influence of mineral additive in boars the level of viable spermatozoa increases in the 3rd group of boars by 18.7 % (P ˂ 0.001) and in the 4th by 6.2 % (P ˂ 0.01), against the control value. With the consumption of feed additive by breeding boars, the number of piglets was higher in the 3rd group by 13.4 % (P ˂ 0.05) and in the 4th by 10.5 % (P ˂ 0.05), against the control analogues.