Effects of replacing zinc oxide with different levels of zinc lactate on gut microbiota in weaned piglets

This study evalutaed the efficacy of substituting zinc oxide (ZnO) with varying levels of zinc lactate (ZnL) in weaned piglets. A total of 128 weaned piglets with an initial body weight of were randomly divided into 4 groups, with 4 replicates per group and 8 piglets per replicate. The dieatry treatment groups were as follows. (1) negative control group, basal diet without supplemental ZnO; (2) positive control group, 1500 ppm zinc with ZnO; (3) experimental groups 1, 600 ppm zinc with ZnL; (4) experimental groups 2, 800 ppm zinc with ZnL. The whole trial lasted for 18 days. Cecal contents (approximately 5 g per sample) were collected, flash frozen, and stored for microbial detection with 16S rRNA sequencing analysis.