author(s)
L Borah, R Bhuyan, BN Saikia and M Hazarika

abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of dietary herbal oligosaccharides on the blood biochemical parameters, faecal microbial load and intestinal morphology of crossbred pigs. Twenty-four crossbred (Hampshire x Assam local) piglets of average body weight of 12±0.81 kg and about 2 months of age were divided into four treatment groups viz C (basal diet only), T1 (basal diet with oligosaccharide @ 0.1%), T21 (basal diet with oligosaccharide @ 0.2%) and T3(basal diet with oligosaccharide @ 0.3%). No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed among the treatment groups in respect of total serum protein (g/dl) and blood haemoglobin (g). The faecal coliform count in the treated groups was significantly (P<0.01) decreased than the control group. But, the number of lactobacilli was significantly increased in pigs fed 0.1% (T1) and 0.2% (T2) oligosaccharides compared with the control pigs (P<0.05). There was no significant difference among the treatment groups in respect of total viable count. The villous height in the duodenum were significantly increased by the supplementation of oligosaccharides (p<0.01). The result of this study revealed that the oligosaccharide supplementation in swine diet improves gut health by modulation of intestinal microflora and by increasing the intestinal villous height.