Ideal amino acid balance for sows during gestation and lactation1

167

122

Elevated oxidative stress is reported to be associated with pregnancy complications in highly prolific sows. Oxidative DNA damage and the antioxidant status were determined in blood samples collected during the course of gestation and lactation in multiparous sows. Blood samples were drawn from sows (n 5 5) on days 30, 60, 90 and 110 of gestation (G30, G60, G90 and G110, respectively), on day 3, 10 and 18 of lactation (L3, L10 and L18, respectively) and on day 5 of postweaning (W5). Lymphocytes were isolated from the fresh blood and cryopreserved in each time point. Lymphocyte DNA damage was analyzed by alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) to determine the single-and double-strand brakes and endogenous antioxidant concentrations using an HPLC system with UV detection. The comet assay showed elevated (P , 0.05) DNA damage (between 38% and 47%) throughout the gestational and lactational periods than during early gestation (G30; 21%). Plasma retinol concentration was reduced (P , 0.05) at the end of gestation (G110) compared with G30. Plasma a-tocopherol concentrations also showed a similar trend as to retinol. This study indicates that there is an increased systemic oxidative stress during late gestation and lactation, which are not fully recovered until the weaning compared with the G30, and that antioxidant nutrients in circulation substantially reduced in the mother pig at G110.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Oxidative stress status of highly prolific sows during gestation and lactation

Berchieri-Ronchi

Kim

Yan

et al. 2011

167

122

“…Similarly, there is lack of knowledge on whether efficiencies change during lactation depending on feed intake or when sows turn from the anabolic to catabolic state. Kim et al (2009) found that the order and ratios of the first limiting AA changed depending on the BW loss of the sow, which also emphasizes the complexity of AA nutrition in lactating sows and the need of generating more knowledge in this area.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Specific feed formulations could be made for different groups of sows -for example, first parity sows may have a different requirement than multiparous sows. Sows could also be divided into groups according to their body size or body condition, as Kim et al (2009) suggest that the AA requirement during lactation might depend on the body condition of the sow.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of protein and amino acid requirements of lactating sows using a population-based factorial approach

Strathe

Theil

Hansen

et al. 2015

Determination of appropriate nutritional requirements is essential to optimize the productivity and longevity of lactating sows. The current recommendations for requirements do not consider the large variation between animals. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the amino acid recommendations for lactating sows using a stochastic modeling approach that integrates population variation and uncertainty of key parameters into establishing nutritional recommendations for lactating sows. The requirement for individual sows was calculated using a factorial approach by adding the requirement for maintenance and milk. The energy balance of the sows was either negative or zero depending on feed intake being a limiting factor. Some parameters in the model were sow-specific and others were population-specific, depending on state of knowledge. Each simulation was for 1000 sows repeated 100 times using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. BW, back fat thickness of the sow, litter size (LS), average litter gain (LG), dietary energy density and feed intake were inputs to the model. The model was tested using results from the literature, and the values were all within ±1 s.d. of the estimated requirements. Simulations were made for a group of low-(LS = 10 (s.d. = 1), LG = 2 kg/day (s.d. = 0.6)), medium-(LS = 12 (s.d. = 1), LG = 2.5 kg/day (s.d. = 0.6)) and high-producing (LS = 14 (s.d. = 1), LG = 3.5 kg/day (s.d. = 0.6)) sows, where the average requirement was the result. In another simulation, the requirements were estimated for each week of lactation. The results were given as the median and s.d. The average daily standardized ileal digestible (SID) protein and lysine requirements for low-, medium-and high-producing sows were 623 (CV = 2.5%) and 45.1 (CV = 4.8%); 765 (CV = 4.9%) and 54.7 (CV = 7.0%); and 996 (CV = 8.5%) and 70.8 g/day (CV = 9.6%), respectively. The SID protein and lysine requirements were lowest at week 1, intermediate at week 2 and 4 and the highest at week 3 of lactation. The model is a valuable tool to develop new feeding strategies by taking into account the variable requirement between groups of sows and changes during lactation. The inclusion of between-sow variation gives information on safety margins when developing new dietary recommendations of amino acids and protein for lactating sows.

“…The majority of production systems do not have formal strategies to feed sows differentially based on their own and gestating litter requirements, although adapting feeding level according to sow body condition may indirectly go some way towards achieving this goal. Not adapting gestational feeding to individual requirements can place both sows and piglets (Kim et al, 2009) in a sub-optimal state before farrowing and increase the necessity of obtaining high lactation intakes to meet energy requirements. This is not always possible, as seasonal constraints such as high temperature, parity effects (Hermesch and Jones, 2007) and health issues ) can hinder lactation intake.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body development in sows, feed intake and maternal capacity. Part 2: gilt body condition before and after lactation, reproductive performance and correlations with lactation feed intake

Lewis

Bunter

2011

Data on sow body weight (BW) and fatness (n 5 ,2250 pregnant sows) and reproductive data (including historical: n 5 ,18 000) were used to examine the genetic and phenotypic associations between body condition before and after farrowing, gestational outcomes, lactation feed intake and the gilts' ability to survive unculled to farrow in the second parity. Within-trait genetic correlations were very high between weight (0.77 6 0.06) and fat depth (0.91 6 0.04) recorded before farrowing and at weaning. Litter size traits were generally uncorrelated genetically with aspects of sow BW and body condition. However, genetic correlations indicated that sows producing heavier piglets at birth had litters with increased gain (0.36 6 0.16), and were characterised by greater weight (20.72 6 0.08) and fat change (20.19 6 0.15) during lactation, reflected to a lesser extent by lower weight (20.12 6 0.11) and fatness (20.17 6 0.10) at weaning. Genetic correlations (r a ) between reproductive traits and lactation feed intake were generally low, but favourable. However, lactation intake was positively correlated with measures of sow size (r a 5 ,0.55), such that selection for lactation feed intake would likely be accompanied by increased mature sow size. Phenotypic correlations (r p ) showed that sow survival to the second parity (FAR12) was positively influenced by litter size and fat depth at weaning, supporting attributes of increased fatness before farrowing, less weight loss during lactation and an increased lactation intake.