A high-protein diet maximizes milk output and minimizes weight loss in lactation
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
1995
Conference Title
Fifth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA)
Place of Publication
Canberra
ISBN
0 646 25622 x
ISSN
1324-9177
Keywords
Pigs, Sows, Milk, Lactation, Weight loss, High protein diet
Disciplines
Agricultural Science | Agriculture | Animal Sciences | Food Science | Meat Science | Nutrition | Plant Sciences
Abstract
In most commercial piggeries, sows do not consume sufficient feed to maintain body weight during lactation and hence body reserves are an important source of substrates for milk production. This experiment tested the hypothesis that milk yield and composition are maintained by sows using body reserves of fat and protein when their voluntary feed intake (VFI) is low. Thirty eight gilts were fed during gestation so that they were either fat or lean at farrowing and, during a 4-week lactation, were fed ad libitum either a low-protein (LP; 7.9% CP) or high-protein (HP; 19.0% CP) diet (described by Revell et al., 1995). After cross-fostering, the average litter size was 8.7. Milk yield was calculated by the deuterium oxide technique (Pettigrew et al., 1987) and milk samples were collected in early (day 4-6) and late (day 25-27) lactation. The milk data presented are the average values for early and late lactation. The losses of body fat and protein were estimated from changes in body-weight and backfat thickness (Mullan, 1992)
Recommended Citation
Revell, D.K., Williams, I.H., Ranford, J.L., Mullan, B.P., Smits, R.J., 1995. A high-protein diet maximizes milk output and minimizes weight loss in lactation. In “Manipulating Pig Production V”, eds., D.P Hennessey, P.D. Cranwell, Australasian Pig Science Association, Werribee, p. 136
