Lactating sows fed whey protein diet improved the blood profile of weaning pigs

Dietary milk components such as, whey protein concentrate (WPC) and whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) have been widely used in piglet diets. To date no literature has been presented on the application of whey protein additive in sow diet. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of WPC and WPH supplementation in sows during lactation and the litter performance. At d 115, of lactation, 21 multi-parous sows (n = 7 per treatment) with their offspring were blocked according to parity and allocated to 1 of 3 dietary treatments: CON- (basal diet), TRT 1-CON + 0.047% WPC, and TRT2- CON + 0.02% WPH. The designated diets WPC and WPH powders were obtained from AT Feed Co. Ltd. (South Korea) and mixed in sow diet from lactation and continued until weaning, whereas dam milk was the only feed source to the piglets. During pre- and post-farrowing, and at weaning (d 21) individual sows body weight (BW), body condition score, and backfat thickness were measured. Piglets were weighed at birth and at weaning and the coefficient of variation was calculated. Individual piglet’s BW was measured at birth and at weaning. Overall average daily gain (ADG) was also recorded. Blood samples were collected from 7 sows and 12 piglets /treatment. Individual sow and their litter were used as an experimental unit. Difference among the treatment means were determined using the Duncan multiple range test. The reproduction performance of sows was not affected by experimental diets. However, piglets born to sows fed WPC and WPH diet had a higher (P < 0.05) ADG. Sows fed WPC and WPH diet showed lower red blood cell (RBC) count and total iron-binding count (TIBC) after farrowing. But, the piglets born to sows fed diet containing WPC had increased (P < 0.05) RBC, iron, hemoglobulin, and TIBC. Though there were no significant differences observed on the reproductive performance of sows’ neither in WPC nor the WPH groups the body weight and blood profile of piglets were highly improved in piglets born to sows fed WPC and WPH diets. We infer that 0.047% of WPC and 0.02% of WPH in sow diets could be beneficial to improve the blood profile of piglets.

Key Words: whey protein, piglet, growth performance, blood profile.

Presented at the 9th Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals, St. Louis, USA, 2021. For information on the next edition, click here.