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Perinatal mortality of piglets is an economic serious loss for the pig industry. Therefore, finding strategies to decrease stillbirths and increase piglet vitality is crucial. One of those strategies is to supplement gestation and lactation diets with n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), can be beneficial, as these PUFA are essential for the development of the foetus, as a structural component of the membrane phospholipids and present in high concentrations in the brain and retina. Whereas Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is essential for the immune system as precursor fatty acid (FA) for anti-inflammatory eicosanoids and resolvins, and by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid. Docosahexaenoic acid can be directly supplied from the maternal diet through addition of fish oil, or it may result from the conversion of dietary precursors such as alpha-linolenic acid, e.g. by addition of linseed oil.
This study aimed to examine the effects of linseed oil and fish oil in the maternal diet on their reproductive performance in the current and subsequent gestation. Furthermore, the dietary effect on the farrowing process, piglet weight and vitality was analysed. Ten groups of sows (734 sows in total; parities 1–12) were used in the experiment (five groups per farm). From day 45 of gestation and during lactation, sows were fed one of the seven experimental diets: (1) a palm oil diet (PO); or a diet including (2) 0.5% linseed oil (0.5% LO); (3) 2% linseed oil (2% LO); (4) 0.5% fish oil (0.5% FO); (5) 2% fish oil (2% FO); (6) 0.5% linseed oil and 0.5% fish oil (0.5% LO+0.5% FO); and (7) 0.5% linseed oil and 1% fish oil (0.5% LO+1% FO).
Sows fed linseed oil had 0.9 more live born piglets (P=0.02) and 0.5 more weaned piglets (P=0.02) compared to fish oil fed sows. In the subsequent gestation, linseed oil fed sows had 1.3 and 1.5 more live born piglets compared to sows fed fish oil (P=0.006) or palm oil (P<0.001), respectively. No dietary effects were observed on piglet birth weight and litter weight, but linseed oil supplementation resulted in a higher piglet weight and litter weight at 5 days of age, compared to piglets from sows fed fish oil (P=0.04 and P=0.02, respectively) or palm oil (P=0.02 and P=0.002, respectively).
In conclusion, supplementing linseed oil, with or without fish oil, to the gestation and lactation diet of the sow had no effect on the reproductive performance of the sows in the current gestation, but had positive effects on reproductive performance in the subsequent parity. Furthermore, linseed oil in the maternal diet had positive effects on piglet pre-weaning growth.
Tanghe, S., Missotten, J., Raes, K., Vangeyte, J. and De Smet, S. 2014. Diverse effects of linseed oil and fish oil in diets for sows on reproductive performance and pre-weaning growth of piglets. Livestock Science. 164; 109–118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.03.009