The role of zinc in piglet health

Zinc can be used in two ways in piglets – as an essential nutrient (in low dosage) and as a therapeutic treatment (in high dosage) to prevent diarrhoea occurrence. How exactly does it work and what does the future hold for zinc in food animals? By David Burch, veterinarian, Octagon Services, UK “Zinc is the trace element involved in more biological functions than any other micro-mineral in the nutrition of the newly weaned pig.” Such was the first sentence of a recent a