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During the early period after birth, piglet mortality is a problem that contributes to economical losses in the pig industry. Pig diets contain mainly cereals, they are considered to be relatively low in omega-3 fatty acids yet rich in omega-6 fatty acids, a composition which has been reported to be less beneficial in the development of piglet neural tissues. The aim of this work was to study the effect of supplementation of the maternal diet with algal biomass, containing the essential fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on the performance of sows and their piglets farrowing in two different housing conditions. Sows were allocated according to parity, live weight and previous litter size records to one of six treatments in a 3x2 factorial arrangement, comparing three levels of DHA inclusion from algal biomass (0%, 0.03% and 0.3% DHA, delivered by 1.5 g/kg and 15 g/kg algal biomass) and two types of housing system (farrowing crate or an alternative loose farrowing pen) during the last 4 weeks of pregnancy and lactation, using 60 sows (mean parity 4.7). The farrowing crate used was a standard farrowing crate (2 m long x 0.60 m wide) within a total pen area of 3.96 m2. In the second system the total area for the pen, excluding service passage, was 7.9 m2. It comprised a nest area (1.74 m x 2.40 m) with straw and piglet protection features, an adjacent lockable sow feeder and a slatted dunging area (0.95 m x 2.36 m). A triangular heated piglet creep area on one side of the nest had an area of 0.75 m2 and was covered with a wooden lid to which was attached a heat lamp.
No statistically significant interactions between dietary treatment and housing system were observed. No differences were also observed for the effect of DHA supplementation on sow body weight and feed consumption. Piglet survival and growth did not differ between the crate and pen systems. Litter size and piglet birth weight were not affected by dietary treatments, but the number of stillborn piglets per litter was reduced with increasing DHA supplementation (1.13, 0.67, 0.25, P=0.014, with litter size covariate). This was despite an increase in farrowing duration of the sows with increased DHA supplementation (150.3, 195.2 and 216.2, P=0.02). The vitality of the piglets, as described by the latency (min) of the piglets to stand (1.92, 1.44 and 1.17, P<0.001), to reach the teat (21.55, 15.71 and 11.20, P<0.001) and to suckle (25.66, 19.14 and 14.83, P<0.001), was also improved with increased supplementation of DHA. Mortality of liveborn piglets in the first 3 days, and number weaned per litter (after fostering) were unaffected by the experimental treatment, as were sow weight and backfat loss in lactation. However, piglet weaning weight was reduced by DHA supplementation (by up to 12%).
In conclusion, this study showed that inclusion of an omega-3 PUFA supplement in the form of algal biomass increased farrowing duration, but improved vitality.
Adeleye, O. O., Brett, M., Blomfield, D., Guy, J. H., & Edwards, S. A. (2014). The effect of algal biomass supplementation in maternal diets on piglet survival in two housing systems. Livestock Science, 162, 193–200. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2013.12.030