Spray Dried Plasma in Gestation and Lactation Diets Improves Piglet Weight

Previous research has reported that spray-dried plasma fed to lactating sows during summer months increased pig weight at weaning¹ and when included only in gestation feed, spray-dried plasma increased birth and weaning weight of pigs from primiparous sows². The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 0.5% spray-dried plasma in gestation and lactation diets for sows on litter performance during the hot environmental conditions of the Central West Region of Brazil.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted near Campo Grande, State of South Mato Grosso, Brazil, during spring and summer months. Genetiporc commercial line sows (N=306), from parities 1 to 10 were allotted to two dietary Treatment groups: Control lactation or gestation diets based on sorghum, corn and soybean meal; and Plasma lactation or gestation diet with the same ingredient base as the control plus the inclusion of 0.5% spray-dried plasma. Sows were allotted to Treatments according to parity, sow condition, and ancestry as they began an initial lactation period and were maintained on their assigned treatment during their subsequent gestation and lactation cycle. Sows were offered 2 kg feed/d during gestation and provided ad libitum feed during lactation with continual access to water. Litters were provided a common creep feed from day 7 to 21 of age when pigs were weaned. Data were analyzed using a statistical model that included main effects of month, genetic ancestry, parity, order of lactation (first or second), treatment, and their interactions. Order of lactation and interactions were subsequently removed from the model since they were not significant (P>0.15).

Results and Discussion

Total born (Control, 11.98; Plasma, 11.49; P=0.27), born alive (Control, 11.06; Plasma, 10.60; P=0.26), stillborn (Control, 0.70; Plasma, 0.75; P=0.71), mummified (Control, 0.23; Plasma, 0.14; P=0.16) and weaned (Control, 10.55; Plasma, 10.53; P=0.90) pigs per litter were not significantly affected by Treatments. However, 0.5% plasma in gestation and lactation diets improved average pig weight at birth (Control, 1.464 kg; Plasma, 1.566 kg; P=0.09) during the second lactation period and tended to improve pig weight at weaning (Control, 6.350 kg; Plasma, 6.550 kg; P=0.12) during both lactation periods. Creep feed intake per litter (Control, 1.409 kg; Plasma, 1.516 kg; P=0.02) was greater for the Plasma group. Litter creep feed intake and average pig weight at birth were highly significant (P=0.0001) covariants when used in the analysis of pig weight at weaning; and when these covariants were included in the model, the difference in pig weight at weaning between diets was not significant (Control, 6.101 kg; Plasma, 6.202 kg; P=0.53). Therefore, the increase in pig weight at weaning may have primarily been due to the effects of birth weight and creep feed consumption. These results suggest that supplementation of 0.5% spray dried plasma in sow diets improved pig weight at birth and increased litter creep feed intake and as a consequence, pig weight at weaning was increased an average of 0.200 kg per pig.

Conclusion

Although the mechanisms that explain these results are not well understood, it could be hypothesized that the general health status of the sow and litter was improved due to published evidence that spray-dried plasma proteins support and maintain immune system functions³.

References. ¹Crenshaw et al., 2007. J. Anim. Sci. 85:3442-3453. ²Crenshaw et al., 2010, Proc Allan D Leman Swine Conf. (Suppl), p 193. ³Moretó and Pérez-Bosque, 2009. J. Anim. Sci. 87:E92-E100.

Key words: spray-dried plasma, sows, pigs, birth weight, wean weight, creep feed.