Dietary fiber for pregnant sows: Influence on sow physiology and performance during lactation1

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding sows a bulky diet during gestation on their physiological and metabolic adaptations during the peripartum period, and to determine how these effects may relate to sow and piglet performances. From d 26 of gestation until farrowing, gilts were fed diets that contained 2.8 or 11.0% crude fiber (control and high-fiber diets, respectively, n = 9/group). Daily feed allowance provided the same amount of DE daily (33 MJ of DE/d). Throughout lactation, sows were allowed to consume a standard lactating sow diet ad libitum. Litters were standardized to 12 piglets beyond 48 h after birth. On d 105 of gestation, a jugular catheter was surgically implanted. Preprandial blood samples were collected from d 109 of gestation to the day after farrowing and on d 4, 18, and 26 of lactation. Meal tests and glucose tolerance tests were performed on d 109 of gestation and d 4 and 18 of lactation. During gestation, BW and backfat gain did not differ between treatment groups. During lactation, sows fed the high-fiber diet ate an average of 0.94 kg/d more than control sows (P < 0.02). Piglets born from sows fed the high-fiber diet grew faster than piglets from control sows (P = 0.03). Body weight and backfat losses did not differ between the 2 treatment groups. Sows fed the high-fiber diet during gestation had lesser concentrations of leptin before farrowing than control sows (P < 0.01). Leptin concentrations were negatively correlated with feed intake during lactation (P < 0.05). The prepartal increase in prolactin concentrations tended to be greater in sows fed the high-fiber diet than in control sows (P < 0.1). Preprandial concentrations of glucose, NEFA, lactate, and IGF-I fluctuated over time without significant treatment effect. Glucose half-life was shorter in late gestation than during both stages of lactation, but did not differ between sows in the 2 groups. In late gestation, the postprandial increases in glucose and insulin were delayed, and smaller, after a high-fiber meal than after a control meal. During lactation, glucose and insulin profiles after a standard meal did not differ between sows from treatment groups. In conclusion, the greater appetite of lactating sows fed a high-fiber diet during gestation does not seem related to changes in glucose and insulin metabolism and may be partly due to decreased secretion of leptin. The greater feed consumption was accompanied by a faster growth rate of piglets without sparing effect on maternal body reserves.

Effect of N,N-dimethylglycine supplementation in parturition feed for sows on metabolism, nutrient digestibility and reproductive performance

“…Similarly, maximal increase in blood glucose level during the OGTT in this study performed post partum was higher and occurred later in time than in OGTT performed in late gestation (Kemp et al, 1996;van der Peet-Schwering et al, 2004). In line with this study and the previously mentioned studies of Kemp et al (1996) and van der Peet-Schwering et al (2004), the results of intravenous glucose tolerance tests performed on sows at day 109 of gestation and at day 4 of lactation confirm that glucose halflife is shorter in late gestation than in early lactation (Quesnel et al, 2009). Different explanations can be given for the basal hyperglycemia and decreased glucose clearance rate observed in early lactation.…”

“…Moreover, levels of leptin in sows can vary in relation to the feeding level (Quesnel et al, 2009), feed composition, time after transition from one feed to another (Papadopoulos et al, 2009) and body condition, mostly measured as back fat thickness (Prunier et al, 2001). In this study, both feeding scheme and body condition of all sows were similar, resulting in similar fasting leptin levels at the first day of lactation for both treatment groups.…”

Neonatal piglet survival: impact of sow nutrition around parturition on fetal glycogen deposition and production and composition of colostrum and transient milk

“…It is not clear, however, which mechanism is responsible for these beneficial effects on colostrum yield. Quesnel et al (2009) reported a numerically greater colostrum yield in sows fed a high-fiber diet compared with a low-fiber control diet from day 26 of gestation until parturition (3.4 v. 3.0 kg), although the difference was not significant. Recently, Loisel et al (2013) investigated the influence of the level and source of DF on colostrum yield.…”

Effects of konjac flour inclusion in gestation diets on the nutrient digestibility, lactation feed intake and reproductive performance of sows

“…However, growing evidence shows that restricted feeding during gestation has a negative effect on the welfare of sows, which in turn affects their reproductive performance (Douglas et al, 1998;Sekiguchi and Koketsu, 2004). Previous studies have shown that high-fiber diets could be used to increase the feeling of satiety of gestating sows without providing them with too much energy (Robert et al, 2002), thereby increasing their lactation feed intake and improving reproductive performance (Guillemet et al, 2007;Quesnel et al, 2009). However, lactation feed intake responses to dietary fiber are inconsistent, depending heavily on fiber source (Holt et al, 2006;Darroch et al, 2008), fiber types (Darroch et al, 2008) and the duration sows receive the fibrous diet (Veum et al, 2009).…”