FEEDING THE LACTATING SOW

WHAT WORKS – WHAT DOES NOT

 

R. Dean Boyd and Gonzalo Castro

PIC USA

 

A complete reproductive cycle is one of the most energetically expensive and challenging activities that a female can undertake.  A high level of weaned pig output can be maintained over the reproductive life of the sow if she consumes adequate amounts of energy and nutrients.  First litter females are especially vulnerable to nutrition deficit, which typically occurs during lactation.  Adequate intake of feed during lactation is important for first litter females since excessive loss of body fat and protein results in a prolonged wean to estrus interval (WEI) and reduced subsequent litter size.  A practical outcome of extended WEI is to cull for presumed reproductive failure.

            For multi-parous females, the nutrient needs for milk production are more nearly met by increased feed intake or by a larger body size to derive nutrients from.  However, they sometimes suffer from a progressive decrease in body reserves because we underestimate the amount of feed that it takes to rebuild them during the ensuing pregnancy.  Severe and chronic depletion of body protein and fat reserves appear to compromise pig output in multiparous females. The impact on lifetime pig output can be significant if this goes uncorrected.

            Feeding strategy during lactation should be to maximize feed consumption.  Nutrient specification is critical but secondary.  Feeder type and feeding method are too often inadequate for prolific sows.  It is normal for lactating females to lose weight  (<10 kg in 21 d) but excessive loss may result in prolonged WEI and decreased litter size.  These may occur with low lactation feed consumption or with either low energy or low protein intake.  The importance of lactation feed intake on subsequent reproductive output increases with the number of pigs nursed and with younger sows as compared to older sows.

            Ambient temperature can be devastating to intake but little can be done about it from a Nutritional standpoint.  The most powerful modifiers of subsequent reproduction, during extreme heat stress, is to split-wean (or early wean the litter) and use cooling methods to decrease room temperature.

            Issues that will be addressed are presented in Outline below for the Two Questions posed in the title:

 

What Works in Feeding the Lactating Sow?

 

1.         What is your concept of Full-feeding and the consequence of not doing it?

 

2.         How to feed the sow from the day of Farrow (d 0) to Weaning?

 

3.                  What are the effective methods for Full-feeding so that labor is best utilized?

 

4.                  Factors that encourage Feed Intake during Lactation?

 

5.                  How do we handle Problem Sows that experience a sudden decline in Intake?

 

6.                  How do we Accurately Monitor Intake in Practice so that the Balance between food Input and product Output can be assessed?

 

What Compromises Lactation Feed Intake?

 

1.         Health Status – There is no way to feed around a Health disruption.

 

2.         Feeder type compromises Intake and diverts a precious resource - Labor.

 

3.         Feed consistency and quality.

 

4.                  Failure to sort Gilts and Thin Sows for concentrated feeding and easy verification of full-feeding.

 

5.                  Sow Lactation care too often violates common knowledge from the dairy sector.  Common disturbance factors:  Noise, inadequate light, proper mammary stimulation (precluded by continual pig switching).

 

6.                  Body Condition impacts the drive for intake.  Achieve the proper endpoint before Lactation (e.g., Thin Sows that are not Full-fed result in lower pig wean weight).

 

7.                  Extreme Heat stress.

 

8.                  At What point does Inadequate Feeding and Nutrition become lethal?