Effect of the environment on the physiology of the sow during late pregnancy, farrowing and early lactation

The current pilot study assessed the influence of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) on insulin sensitivity, glucose and fat metabolism, nutrient digestibility and reproductive performance of sows in the peripartal period. At day 105 of gestation, 25 sows were randomly assigned to the control (n 5 13) or the DMG group (n 5 12). Sows from the DMG group were supplemented with 1 g DMG/kg feed until day 3 of lactation. After an overnight fast 1 day after farrowing, a blood sample of each sow was drawn. The plasma was analyzed for insulin, glucose, fructosamine, leptin, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and triglycerides (TG) and an oral glucose tolerance test was performed. A rectal feces sample was collected and the apparent fecal digestibility (AFD) of crude fat (CFAT), crude protein (CP) and nitrogenfree extract (NFE) was calculated after proximate analyses. Finally, a colostrum sample was collected from each sow and analyzed for the presence of DMG. Reproductive performance parameters were recorded. The results showed an improvement in the AFD of CFAT, CP and NFE when DMG was supplemented. This beneficial effect confirms the hypothesis that DMG acts as an emulsifying agent. The improvement in digestibility in the DMG group was accompanied by a numerical increase in plasma TG (P 5 0.067). Plasma NEFA concentrations were not different between treatment groups. DMG supplementation neither affected glucose clearance nor influenced plasma insulin, glucose, fructosamine or leptin levels. TBARS and FRAP also remained unaffected, despite previously reported anti-oxidative properties of DMG. Furthermore, no significant impact on reproductive performance could be recorded. In conclusion, DMG supplementation significantly improved nutrient digestibility. Possible beneficial effects on energy metabolism and reproductive performance of sows should be tested when DMG is supplemented for a longer period of time or at a higher dose.Keywords: sow, N,N-dimethylglycine, nutrient digestibility, glucose metabolism, reproduction ImplicationsThe supplementation of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) in parturition feed of sows has an emulsifying effect. This resulted in improvements in not only fat digestibility, but also the digestibility of the protein and the nitrogen-free dietary fraction. However, measures of reproductive performance were not affected by DMG supplementation. The addition of this supplement to gestation and lactation feed should be investigated. Supplementation of DMG over a longer period of time can possibly be beneficial in terms of sow body condition and reproductive performance of sows.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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

Cools

Maes

Buyse

et al. 2010

“…In contrast to Lawrence et al (1994) and Jarvis et al (2002), the current study included both gilts and older parity sows. Previously, a few authors have reported that better options for conducting nest-building behaviour by housing the sows loose instead of in a crate resulted in easier farrowing and a shorter farrowing time (Oliviero et al, 2008;Oliviero et al, 2010). On the contrary, others did not detect a difference in the farrowing time between loose sows and sows in crates (Damm et al, 2003;Jarvis et al, 2004).…”

Section: Stillbirthsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confinement of lactating sows in crates for 4 days after farrowing reduces piglet mortality

Moustsen

Hales

Lahrmann

et al. 2013

To reduce mortality among suckling piglets, lactating sows are traditionally housed in farrowing crates. Alternatively, lactating sows can be housed in farrowing pens where the sow is loose to ensure more behavioural freedom and consequently a better welfare for the sow, although under commercial conditions, farrowing pens have been associated with increased piglet mortality. Most suckling piglets that die do so within the first week of life, so potentially lactating sows do not have to be restrained during the entire lactation period. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate whether confinement of the sow for a limited number of days after farrowing would affect piglet mortality. A total of 210 sows (Danish Landrace × Danish Yorkshire) were farrowed in specially designed swing-aside combination farrowing pens measuring 2.6 m × 1.8 m (combi-pen), where the sows could be kept loose or in a crate. The sows were either: (a) loose during the entire experimental period, (b) crated from days 0 to 4 postpartum, (c) crated from days 0 to 7 postpartum or (d) crated from introduction to the farrowing pen to day 7 postpartum. The sows and their subsequent litters were studied from introduction to the combi-pen ∼1 week before expected farrowing and until 10 days postpartum. Confinement period of the sow failed to affect the number of stillborn piglets; however, sows that were crated after farrowing had fewer live-born mortality deaths (P < 0.001) compared with the sows that were loose during the experimental period. The increased piglet mortality among the loose sows was because of higher mortality in the first 4 days after farrowing. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that crating the sow for 4 days postpartum was sufficient to reduce piglet mortality.

“…Salivary cortisol concentration was analysed by radioimmunoassay with a kit (Coat-A-Count Cortisol; OrionDiagnostica, Turku, Finland) validated for use with pig saliva (Oliviero et al, 2008). The samples were analysed in duplicate.…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental enrichment in early life affects cortisol patterns in growing pigs

Munsterhjelm

Valros

Heinonen

et al. 2010

Self Cite

Effects of environmental enrichment at different stages of life on stress physiology of pigs were investigated in a trial with 63 groups, each of four siblings. In each of the three growing phases (suckling 0 to 4 weeks of age, nursery 5 to 9 weeks, fattening 10 to 24 weeks) pens either were (5E) or were not (50) enriched. Accordingly, the treatments were (i) 000, (ii) E00, (iii) EE0, (iv) 00E, (v) 0EE and (vi) EEE. The enrichment material, renewed twice daily to leave a thin layer, consisted of wood shavings and chopped straw. Salivary cortisol was sampled hourly from 0700 to 1900 h at the age of 9 and 21 weeks. The presence of a circadian secretion rhythm was evaluated by an intra-assay coefficient of variation-based method. An adrenocorticotropic hormone test was performed at 21 weeks. Treatment effects on the odds of a physiological cortisol rhythm were assessed by logistic regression, and effects on cortisol concentrations with a repeated measures GLM. Substrateenrichment from 0 to 9 weeks of age increased the odds of a rhythm as compared to barren housing (odds ratio (OR) 5 30.0, P , 0.01). A flat cortisol secretion pattern may indicate chronic stress and/or delayed maturation of the rhythm. Barren as compared to enriched rearing (0 to 4 weeks of age) seemed to cause a blunted secretion rhythm at 21 weeks of age. Although behavioural and tail lesion observations provided support to the assumption that a blunted rhythm indicates chronic stress, the biological significance of these cortisol results needs confirmation in future studies.Keywords: pig, cortisol, environmental enrichment, early enrichment ImplicationsThe welfare of intensively housed pigs is a matter of public concern. A crowded and barren environment is known to cause signs of stress. This research was designed to investigate effects on stress physiology of a very moderate amount of bedding provided at different stages of the life of pigs raised for slaughter. The quality (wood shavings and chopped straw) and amount was chosen to be compatible with partly slatted pen floors and slurry manure systems. The results indicate that a small amount of bedding in early life (0 to 4 weeks of age) will prevent physiological signs of stress at a later age. Due to use of unestablished methods the biological significance of these results needs more evidence to be disclosed.