Effect of Dietary Fibre on Digestibility and Energy Metabolism in Pregnant Sows

Abstract

This study was undertaken to provide information on the effect of two levels of dietary bre (DF) [184 vs. 407 g DF kg ¼ 1 dry matter (DM)] on the digestibility of nutrients and energy metabolism in pregnant sows during different stages of pregnancy. The amount of DF in the high-bre diet was supplied by dried sugar beet pulp (20%) and oats, wheat bran and grass pellets. The intake of metabolizable energy (ME) was similar for both the low-bre and the highbre diet, with an average daily intake of 30.74 MJ. Digestibility of DM, organic matter, protein, fat and energy was signi cantly decreased by a high DF level, but no effect of the diets was observed on the stage of pregnancy. A high bre level signi cantly increased the digestibility of DF, indicating that bre from sugar beet pulp is more fermentable than bre from cereals. Protein utilization increased during the pregnancy, but at a very low level, indicating that the protein level in diets for pregnant sows could be lower. Inclusion of extra DF in the diet signi cantly increased the amount of energy excreted as CH 4 . Heat production was affected by diet, although not signi cantly (28.77 vs. 29.72 MJ day ¼ 1 in the low-bre and highbre diets, respectively). The utilization of ME for energy retention was lower for the high-bre diet as a result of increased hind-gut fermentation. There was similar relation between the net energy of the standard and the high-bre diet either calculated using the ofcial Danish feed evaluation (0.77) or experimental estimated value (0.81).

Digestibility and metabolic utilisation of dietary energy in adult sows: influence of addition and origin of dietary fibre

“…In connection with the absence of effect of diet composition on main components of HP, total HP was not affected by the addition of DF in the diet. This result contrasts with previous studies, which showed an increased heat increment with the DF level in growing pigs (Jørgensen et al 1996) or in adult sows (Noblet et al 1993a;Ramonet et al 2000;Olesen et al 2001). In fact, the variation of DF level between the control and the DF-rich diet was low (90 g DF/kg DM) when compared with those of the latter studies (approximately 200 g DF/kg DM).…”

“…the relationship between energy losses as CH 4 and digestible DF obtained with results of Rijnen et al (2001) (n 4) is different from the relationship obtained with the results (n 25) of Shi (1993), Jørgensen et al (2001), Ramonet et al (2000) and Olesen et al (2001). The relationship obtained with these last four studies is close to the result of the present study with an increase of 1·3 kJ energy from CH 4 for each g additional digestible DF in the diet (Fig.…”

“…In order to compare this result with those of previous studies, results in the literature on CH 4 production in adult sows are presented in Fig. 3 (Shi, 1993;Ramonet et al 2000;Jørgensen et al 2001;Olesen et al 2001;Rijnen et al 2001). According to a covariance analysis, Mean values within a row with unlike superscript letters were significantly different, P,0·05.…”

The fermentative capacity of growing pigs and adult sows fed diets with contrasting type and level of dietary fibre

“…However, Kirchgessner et al (1994) did not find any limitation in the fermentative capacity when feeding dry sows with graded level of alfalfa meal or wheat bran corresponding to the amount of dietary fibre fed in the present experiment. On the other side, doubling the amount of feed to pregnant sows in the last part of the pregnancy reduced the proportion of methane (CH 4 ) relative to the intake of metabolizable energy (ME) indicating that there is a limitation in the fermentative capacity of adult sows (Olesen et al, 2001).…”

Effects of available surface on gaseous emissions from group-housed gestating sows kept on deep litter

“…CO 2 -exhalation by pigs is function of energy metabolism and can be derived from the heat production and the respiratory quotient (RQ, the ratio between the CO 2 production and O 2 consumption during respiration (Pedersen et al, 2008). For gestating sows, CO 2 production at animal level is estimated at 0.165 m 3 /h per 1000 W of total heat production, related to a RQ value of about 0.95 (Olesen et al, 2001;Rijnen et al, 2001;Theil et al, 2002). According to the CIGR equations (CIGR, 2002), it corresponds to an exhalation of about 2.6 kg CO 2 /day for the sows of the current essay.…”