Effect of dam parity on litter performance, transfer of passive immunity, and progeny microbial ecology1

Abstract

Litter performance and progeny health status may be decreased in progeny derived from primiparous sows but improve with increasing parity. The objective was to evaluate litter performance, the production and passive transfer of Ig, and fecal microbial populations in progeny derived from first parity (P1) compared with fourth parity (P4) dams. Litter performance was recorded for P1 (n = 19) and P4 (n = 24) dams including number of pigs/litter (total born, born live, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, prewean mortality, and pigs weaned) and average litter and piglet BW at birth (d 0), d 7, d 14, and at weaning (average d 19). Blood samples were collected from all dams on d 90 and 114 of gestation and d 0 of lactation. Colostrum and milk samples were collected from each dam on d 0, 7, and 14 of lactation for quantification of IgG and IgA. Blood and fecal samples were collected from each litter (n = 6 pigs/litter) on d 1, 7, and 14 after parturition. Circulating IgG and IgA concentrations were quantified in all blood samples. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to characterize similarity and diversity of fecal microbes among progeny. Progeny of P1 dams had decreased average litter BW at d 7 (25.7 vs. 30.0 kg; P < 0.03) and decreased average piglet BW throughout the experiment (d 0, 7, 14, and 19; P < 0.001) compared with P4 progeny. No parity × day interactions were observed with respect to immunoglobulin or microbial analyses. Concentrations of IgA tended to be greater (P = 0.09) in samples of colostrum and milk obtained from P4 compared with P1 dams. Serum IgG concentrations were greater (P < 0.02) in P4 progeny compared with P1 progeny. Results of DGGE revealed that P1 progeny had increased (P < 0.001) microbial similarity on d 7 and decreased (P < 0.03) microbial similarity on d 14 compared with P4 progeny. Progeny of P1 dams tended (P = 0.07) to have a greater Shannon's diversity index compared with P4 progeny on d 1, and P1 progeny had a greater (P < 0.03) Shannon's diversity index compared with P4 progeny on d 7. Litter performance, passive transfer of immunity, and progeny microbial ecology were affected by dam parity.

Optimal timing of boar exposure relative to parturition for stimulation of lactation oestrus

“…These results are consistent with previous findings that no effect was found on piglet growth when these results are compared to sows nursing complete litters (Terry et al, , 2014. Piglets suckling primiparous as opposed to multiparous sows were lighter and grew more slowly during lactation, consistent with previous reports in the literature (Mahan, 1998;Carney-Hinkle et al, 2013). These data demonstrate that the stimulation of a lactation oestrus by way of full physical boar exposure can allow for the weaning age of all piglets to be determined on their requirements, rather than the need to reduce the farrowing to re-mating interval.…”

Temporal changes and the effect of subtherapeutic concentrations of antibiotics in the gut microbiota of swine

“…() suggested that the development of the ‘mature’ gut microbiota in swine is accelerated by the addition of tylosin, although the gut microbiota of untreated pigs eventually reaches this state as well. Therefore, it may be that once this climax community is attained, the gut microbiota is increasingly more resistant to dietary perturbations, including antibiotics (Carney‐Hinkle et al ., ). In addition, despite using the maximum dosage of tylosin and chlortetracycline allowed in Canada for growth promotion in swine, we did not detect any differences in growth rate between diet groups (Holman & Chenier, ).…”

Growth performance of piglets during the first two weeks of lactation affects the development of the intestinal microbiota

“…Other factors such as dam parity and greater ingestion of creep feed and faecal material by the LWG piglets could also have an influence on gut microbiota. (Carney‐Hinkle et al., ; Mori et al., ; Torrallardona, Andrés‐Elias, López‐Soria, Badiola, & Cerdà‐Cuéllar, ). Some studies reported that eater “creep feed” piglets have lower performance during the lactation and weaning weight (Pluske et al., ; Sulabo et al., ).…”