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Feed intake of sows during lactation is frequently low to meet the needs of maintenance, milk production and body growth. Flavor and sodium butyrate have been reported to improve feed intake and growth performance of weaning or growing pigs but little was known on sows. Previous studies found that maternal flavor intake would transfer to the fetus via amniotic fluid and thus enhanced the fetal cognitive acceptance for this flavour. The objective of this study was to test whether supplementation of fruit-milk flavor (FM) or fruit-milk-anise flavor (FMA) could improve both sow and piglet feed intake. Furthermore, it was studied the comparative effects of sodium butyrate (SB) and flavors on feed intake of lactating sows and performance of piglets. After farrowing, 52 primiparous sows (Large White) with similar backfat (21.48±1.73 mm) were randomly allotted to four treatments at day 1 of lactation. Dietary treatments were as follows (n = 13): (i) Control group (CON), basal diet; (ii) SB group, basal diet + 6 g/kg sodium butyrate; (iii) FM group, basal diet + 6 g/kg FM flavor; and (iv) FMA group, basal diet + 6 g/kg FMA flavour. The feeding trial lasted for 29 days, including 21 days of nursing and 8 days of post-weaning period, respectively. The nursing and weaning piglets received creep diets with the same flavor or SB supplement as their mother.
The results showed that FMA flavor increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) of lactating sows (P < 0.01), as well as improved litter weight gain (P = 0.05) and ADFI (P < 0.01) of nursing pigs among treatments. Indeed, greater ADFI and average daily gain of weaning piglets for the initial 8 days after weaning was observed in the FMA group compared with those in the control group (P < 0.01).
In conclusion, compared with sodium butyrate, flavor increased feed intake of lactating sows and improved growth performance of piglets. However, these effects were determined by the types of flavor; FMA flavor was well accepted by sows and their offspring.
Wang, J., Yang, M., Xu, S., Lin, Y., Che, L., Fang, Z. and Wu, D. 2014. Comparative effects of sodium butyrate and flavors on feed intake of lactating sows and growth performance of piglets. Animal Science Journal 85, 683–689 doi: 10.1111/asj.12193
