The effect of adding an enhanced milky flavor to a post-weaning feeding program combined with a standard milky flavor in drinking water on piglet performance was investigated. Ninety-six newly weaned 26 d-old pigs (Landrace x Pietrain), in 24 pens of 4 animals each, were used. The animals were offered free access to 4 diets consisting of a basal diet (T-1) and the same diet with three different flavor preparations: red fruit (T-2), standard milky (T-3) and milky flavor enhanced with an orosensorial supplement (T-4). The composition of the basal diet changed from a pre-starter to a starter formula at d 13 of trial. Additionally, the animals from each experimental treatment had free access to different water supplies that in the case of treatments T-3 and T-4 contained a milky flavour for the first 13 d of trial. During the pre-starter phase, the animals on T-4 grew faster (P<0.05) than those on T-1 and T-2 (145 vs. 104 and 97 g/d, respectively) although not significantly different from T-3 (108 g/d). Despite not being significantly different (P>0.05), the animals on T-4 maintained the highest ADG during the starter phase and throughout the whole experimental period. Thus, at the end of the trial (28 d), piglets on T-4 achieved an ADG of 300 g/d, which was 10.7%, 17.6% and 12.3% higher than T-1, T-2 and T-3, respectively. It is concluded that the addition of a milky flavour in the drinking water after weaning together with a milky enhanced flavour in the pre-starter and starter feeds improves performance of weanling pigs. The enhancement of a standard milky flavor with an orosensorial supplement was highly effective particularly during the pre-starter phase.
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