A two-diet system and ad libitum lactation feeding of the sow. 2. Litter size and piglet performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Neil ◽  
B. Ogle
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Cause Of Death ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Conventional Diet ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Piglet Mortality ◽  
Treatment Mortality

AbstractSixty gilts were allotted to one of the following feeding regimes: CR, a conventional diet offered at a restricted level according to Swedish feeding standards; SA, a simplified gestation diet (mainly oats and barley) offered at a restricted level and a conventional diet offered ad libitum during lactation; CA, a conventional gestation diet offered at a restricted level and the same diet offered ad libitum during lactation. The sows were followed for four parities. Piglet birth weight was unaffected by sow feeding, but differences in piglet live weight were found from 3 weeks of age to the end of the experiment when the piglets were 9 weeks old. CA piglets were heavier than SA piglets at 3 and 9 weeks of age and heavier than both CR and SA piglets at weaning (35 ± 3 days). Litter size was unaffected by treatment as was piglet mortality, whereas the cause of death varied with treatment. Mortality due to trauma was higher among CA piglets than among others, while mortality due to weakness was higher among SA piglets than others and there was also a tendency for higher mortality due to diarrhoea among CR piglets. It was concluded that the CA feeding regime was superior with regards to piglet performance.

A two-diet system andad libitumlactation feeding of the sow 1. Sow performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Neil ◽  
B. Ogle ◽  
K. Annèr
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Backfat Thickness ◽  
Conventional Diet ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Depth Condition

AbstractEffects of a two-diet system combined withad libitumlactation feeding of sows on food consumption, sow live weight (LW), backfat depth, condition scoring, rebreeding interval, symptoms of agalactia and culling were studied on 60 sows followed for four parities. Feeding regimes were: CR, conventional i.e. restricted during gestation and lactation; SA, a simplified diet offered at a restricted level during gestation and a conventional dietad libitumduring lactation; CA, conventional during gestation and the same dietad libitumduring lactation. During lactation CR sows consumed 5·9 kg food daily (71 MJ metabolizable energy (ME)), whereas SA and CA sows consumed on average 7·0 kg (85 MJ ME), the difference being larger in multiparous than in primiparous sows and larger in the first than in later weeks of lactation. From the second farrowing onward sows on CR treatment were lighter and had thinner backfat and lower condition scores than sows on CA treatment, with sows on SA treatment in between, i.e. approaching the CR sows in the gestation periods and the CA sows in the lactation periods. At first service LW was 130 kg and backfat thickness 14 mm. During the fourth lactation LW averaged 190 kg in CR sows and around 220 kg for SA and CA sows, and backfat thickness was 11 mm in CR sows and around 16 mm in SA and CA sows. SA sows tended to rebreed earlier after weaning than did CR or CA sows. CA sows and in particular SA sows had higher incidences of agalactia symptoms and higher rectal temperatures post partum than CR sows. The culling rates did not differ between feeding regimes, although the predominant causes for culling did, being shoulder lesions and abscesses in thin CR sows and leg disorders in SA and CA sows. At the end of the experiment, however, more SA sows than others were retained in the experimental herd. It was concluded that the SA feeding regime was superior in terms of sow performance, despite an increased incidence of agalactia symptoms.

A note on purebred performance of Belgian Piétrain pigs

1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Howard ◽  
W. C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Muscle Quality ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Weight Range ◽  
Breed Difference ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Size At Birth

SUMMARYIn an analysis of data from 211 litters in a Pietrain herd, litter size at birth and at weaning was lower than is generally found in indigenous breeds. Mortality in growing and breeding pigs was high with circulatory failure accounting for 23% and 95% of deaths respectively. Pietrains, fed ad libitum over the live-weight range 27 to 87 kg, grew more slowly by 130 g/day than contemporary Large Whites on the same feeding regime, had higher killing-out percentages (by 3 to 4 units) and larger eye muscles in cross-section (by 9·9 cm2) but tended to have higher feed conversion ratios. There was no breed difference in backfat measurements but Pietrain carcasses were shorter by 83 mm and their muscle quality was markedly inferior to that of the Large Whites.

Consequences of diet fed ad Libitum to the Farrowing and Lactating Crated Sow

1994 ◽  
Vol 1994 ◽  
pp. 152-152
Author(s):  
A.R. Rudd ◽  
P.H. Simmins
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Feeding Management ◽  
Lactating Sows ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Ad Libitum

Ad libitum feeding of lactating sows might ease the feeding management of group and individually housed sows. In this study a commercial feeding regime was compared with diet fed ad libitum to sows crated during the farrowing and lactating period. It was part of a larger project examining alternative farrowing systems.In separate experiments, two feeding regimes were compared. The experimental building contained 5 farrowing crates. The first 10 sows were fed at commercial levels (2.2 kg/day before farrowing & 5.7 kg/day for litter size n=10, ± 0.4 kg per piglet). This was split between meals at 0700 and 1530 daily, fed via a trough at the front of the crate. For the following 30 sows the five farrowing crates were modified by the addition of an ad libitum hopper to the front of the farrowing crate. All animals received an identical lactating diet (DE=13.2MJ/kg, CP=17.9%) throughout the study. Sows entered the farrowing accommodation at day 110±4 of gestation. They remained crated throughout the experiment until weaning at 24±4 days post-partum. Measurements of sow entry and weaning weights were taken, together with records of sow feed intake and individual piglet weights at birth and weaning.

A note on the effect of white-flowered peas on sow reproductive performance

1993 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-158
Author(s):  
R. B. Ogle ◽  
K. Annér
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Soya Bean ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Bean Meal ◽  
Piglet Mortality ◽  
Natal Mortality ◽  
Soya Bean Meal ◽  
Size At Birth

The effect on sow reproductive performance of including 100 g white-flowered peas (Pisum sativum hortense, cv. Vreta and Lotta) per kg, replacing barley, wheat and soya-bean meal in gestation and lactation diets, was studied over four parities using 24 pairs of crossbred littermate sows. Net sow weight gains and changes in backfat thickness over the complete reproductive cycle were similar for both treatments. Piglet live-weight gains and mean litter size at birth were not influenced by treatment, although litter size at weaning was 0·5 pigs higher (P > 0·05) for the control sows, due to higher post-natal mortality rate in the litters from the sows given the pea diets. It can be concluded that inclusion of white-flowered peas at a rate of 100 g/kg had no adverse effect on reproductive performance, with the exception of slightly higher post-natal piglet mortality.

A note on the effect of feeding regime on the performance of sows housed in a novel group-housing system

1989 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Carol Petherick ◽  
Judith K. Blackshaw
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Group Housing ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Effect Of Feeding ◽  
Food Trough

The effects on sow reproductive performance of three feeding regimes (ration (R), ad libitum (A) and ration + straw (R + S)), in conjunction with partial barriers placed along the food trough, were investigated. Three groups of four sows were put on the regimes, in a group-housing system, over three consecutive gestations. Each trial lasted 13 days and took place during the first half of the gestation period. Sows on A ate about three times the amount of food that was allocated to them on R and R + S (2 kg per sow per day). Feeding regime did not affect any of the measures of reproductive performance (numbers of piglets liveborn, stillborn, weaned, birth and weaning weights). Sows of parity 7 and over had significantly fewer liveborn and more stillborn piglets compared with parities 2 to 6 (P < 0·05). It is probable that no adverse effects of the feeding regimes were found due to the short time that the sows were on them and because multiparous animals were used. It is suggested that the welfare of ration-fed sows, whose appetite is not satiated, is jeopardized and that this problem may be solved by the provision of fibrous foodstuffs.

The performance of group-housed sows offered a high fibre diet ad libitum

2000 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Whittaker ◽  
S. A. Edwards ◽  
H. A. M. Spoolder ◽  
S. Corning ◽  
A. B. Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Sugar Beet Pulp ◽  
High Fibre Diet ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Fibre Diet ◽  
High Fibre ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Unrestricted Access ◽  
Beet Pulp ◽  
Ad Libitum

AbstractAs a part of a study investigating the extent to which ad libitum feeding of a high fibre diet could mitigate behavioural problems associated with food restriction, the performance of sows given food at restricted or ad libitum levels was compared. Ten subgroups of five were allocated to each of the restricted (R) and ad libitum (A) feeding regimes. Five weeks after service, subgroups were introduced into one of two dynamic groups of sows housed in adjacent straw-bedded pens. R sows received a fixed daily ration (parity 1: 2·2 kg; parity 2: 2·4 kg) of a conventional pregnancy diet (13·1 MJ digestible energy per kg) from an electronic sow feeder. Sows on the A regime had unrestricted access to five single-space hoppers dispensing a high fibre diet (containing 600 g unmolassed sugar beet pulp per kg). Subgroups were maintained on these gestation feeding regimes for two consecutive parities. During both parities, A sows were heavier by day 50 of gestation (parity 1: P < 0·05; parity 2: P < 0·01) and at farrowing (parity 1: P < 0·001; parity 2: P < 0·001) than R sows. No difference was found between feeding regime in sow weight at weaning, due to a greater weight loss during lactation of A (parity 1: P < 0·001; parity 2: P < 0·001) than R sows. No difference was found between feeding regime in sow backfat thickness, sow reproductive performance or litter performance in either parity. This suggests that unmolassed sugar beet pulp diets may be used to feed sows on an ad libitum basis during gestation without compromising productivity. However, food intakes may be too high (estimated at 4·1 kg per sow per day) to make ad libitum feeding of pregnant sows an attractive option for producers.

A note on the performance, carcass and muscle quality characteristics of pigs sired by Poland China and Large White boars

1973 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-328
Author(s):  
J. P. Chadwick ◽  
W. C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Quality Characteristics ◽  
Muscle Quality ◽  
Drip Loss ◽  
Large White ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Litter Weight ◽  
Ad Libitum

SUMMARYTwo Poland China boars were mated with 12 Large White females and two Large White boars were used on the same number of females of similar background. In the post-weaning period a trial was conducted to compare the performance of purebred and crossbred progeny given a grower's diet on an ad libitum scale of feeding over the live-weight range 28 to 66 kg. Breed of boar did not influence litter size nor total litter weight at either birth or weaning. Poland China crosses compared with Large Whites grew more slowly to slaughter (10 %) but with equal efficiency of live-weight gain. Cross-breds had higher carcass yields (4 %), shorter (3 %) and deeper (2 %) carcasses, lower depths of mid-line and internal fat (11 %) and larger eye-muscle areas (22%). Breed of boar had little influence on joint proportions and no effect on carcass cut-out value. The eye muscles of crossbred carcasses were paler in colour and had higher transmission values but drip loss from the meat was not different.

A note on sodium bentonite as an additive to grower pig diets

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Taverner ◽  
R. G. Campbell ◽  
R. S. Biden
Keyword(s):  
Growth Performance ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Restricted Feeding ◽  
Sodium Bentonite ◽  
Feeding Regimes ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Effect On Growth

ABSTRACTIn pigs growing from 20 to 70 kg live weight, the addition of 40 g sodium bentonite to each kg diet was without significant effect on growth performance under ad libitum and restricted feeding regimes. Sodium bentonite appeared to be indigestible and inert, as dry-matter digestibilities were reduced from 0·87 to 0·85 and 0·83 by the addition of 20 and 40 g sodium bentonite per kg diet respectively.

Gestation period, litter size and birth weight in the goat

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Amoah ◽  
M. J. Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Birth Weight ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Regression Equation ◽  
Gestation Period ◽  
General Linear ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Interactive Model

ABSTRACTData from 265 female goats (does) from seven herds in Year 1 and 130 does from four herds in Year 2 were analysed using a general linear interactive model for factors affecting gestation period (GP), litter size (LS) and birth weight (BW) of offspring (kids). Gestation period could be described by the regression equation GP = α – 0·890LS –1·072S where S is the proportion of male kids in the litter and the constant (a) depends on breed and herd and was 154·240 (s.e., 0·843) days for British Saanen does in Herd 1. The model established for LS was a quadratic regressional relationship LS = a – 0·000103 (MW - 60))2 + 0-0172 (MW -60) where MW was live weight of the doe at mating and a at MW = 60 kg depends on herd and period of kidding. For early-kidding does in Herd 1 a was 2·277 (s.e., 0·090) kids. The expression BW —α 0·363LS + 0·057P is a simplified multiple regressional form involving BW, LS and parity (P) where a varies according to breed, herd and age of the doe. The estimate of a for kids from British Saanen, 1-year-old does in Herd 1 was 3·879 (s.e., 0·632) kg.

The effect of nutrition on the reproductive performance of first-litter sows 1. Feeding level during lactation, and between weaning and mating

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. King ◽  
I. H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Litter Size ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Factorial Experiment ◽  
Daily Food Intake ◽  
Feeding Level ◽  
Lactation Length ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACTA factorial experiment was conducted with 80 first-litter sows and involved two levels of feeding during lactation (ad libitum or 2·0 kg/day), and two levels of feeding between weaning and mating (4·0 or 1·5 kg/day).Average lactation length was 32·2 days. Sows given 2·0 kg/day during lactation lost more backfat (6·3 v. 0·9 mm; P < 0·05) and more live weight (36·8 v. 9·1 kg; P < 0·05) during lactation than sows fed ad libitum and whose average daily food intake was 4·47 kg. Sows receiving 20 kg/day during lactation took longer to return to oestrus after weaning. Within 8 days of weaning more sows fed ad libitum during lactation ovulated (0·90 v. 0·40; x2 = 20·0; P < 0·001) and exhibited oestrus (0·78 v. 0·38; x2 = 12·8; P < 0·001) than sows whose food intake throughout lactation was restricted. Ovulation rate, subsequent litter size and embryonic mortality were not significantly affected by feeding level during lactation.Post-weaning feeding level did not affect the interval between weaning and oestrus. However, sows receiving 4·0 kg/day between weaning and mating had higher ovulation rates (14·8 v. 13·0; P < 0·05) and a greater litter size (10·0 v. 8·8; P < 0·1) at the subsequent farrowing.

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