This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of dietary spray-dried plasma from two species (bovine and porcine) alongside spray-dried bovine colostrum in pigs weaned at 21 days of age, investigating the effect of these ingredients on small intestine histology, morphology and some indices of intestinal inflammation. It was found that compared to results from the control treatment, dietary spray-dried bovine colostrum reduced small intestine villus height at the site 25% along the small intestine, but increased it at the 75% site, whereas spray-dried bovine plasma increased villus height in the 25% and 75% sites, and spray-dried porcine plasma had no effect on villus height in any sampled region of the small intestine. Further research is needed to determine whether they are indeed functional alternatives, and where their similarities and differences may lie.

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