Effect of Energy Source Prior to Parturition and during Lactation on Piglet Survival and Growth and on Milk Lipids

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Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of level and source of energy fed to sows prior to parturition and during lactation on birth weight, gain, and survival of piglets and fat content of the dam's milk. The first experiment involved 30 gilts and nine sows. The gestation control diet, providing 5,750 kcal of metabolizable energy (ME)/dam/ day, was supplemented with either stabilized tallow or cornstarch, thus forming two additional diets, and fed at levels to provide 9,300 kcal of ME/dam daily. Treatments were initiated on day 100 of pregnancy and continued until parturition. Immediately following parturition, lactation treatments were imposed for a 14-day period. The lactation control diet contained 3,034 kcal ME/kg and was supplemented with 20% stabilized tallow to form a second diet that contained 3,843 kcal of ME/kg. The second experiment was a replicate of experiment 1, involving 17 gilts and 18 sows and provided additional information on fat content of the dam's milk and postweaning growth and efficiency of feed utilization by the piglets. Pigs reared on sows fed tallow during lactation had an 81.6% survival rate at 14 days of age, which was higher, but not significantly different, from that observed for the controls (79.2%). Percent piglets weighing ≼ 1,000 g at birth surviving to 14 days was higher, but not significantly different for those reared on sows fed tallow as compared to controls (53.4% vs 43.4%, respectively). This difference in survival rate among the smaller piglets was established as early as day 2 and maintained through day 14. Addition of tallow to the diets of dams during the gestation period increased fat content of colostrum compared to dams fed the control and cornstarch diets (8.94% vs 6.77%, 5.57%) but this increase was not sustained throughout lactation. Administration of tallow immediately following parturition increased (P<.01) milk fat for the entire lactation period in comparison to the controls (10.04 vs 8.10). The effect of the dam's gestation-lactation diets upon subsequent performance of pigs fed an identical diet to approximately 95 kg was determined using average daily gain, feed intake and feed efficiency as response criteria. Pigs in each of the gestation-lactation subclasses responded similarly with no significant differences observed for those traits tested. Copyright © 1978. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1978 by American Society of Animal Science.