The impact of dietary 25(OH)D₃ supplementation on sows and their progeny

Vitamin D is essential for the growth and maintenance of functional skeleton and helps to sustain health and improve longevity. 25(OH)D₃ is a form of vitamin D₃ that has been used in animal diets as a new source of vitamin D. It is an intermediary metabolite that bypasses the liver metabolism and is readily available to animals, presenting greater results after their supplementation than vitamin D₃. This experiment investigated the effects of supplementing the diet of sows and their progeny with or without 25(OH)D₃ in a 2×2 factorial arrangement on the performance and production characteristics of wean-finish pigs. Forty-eight multiparous sows were assigned to a basal diet containing 2000 IU/kg vitamin D₃ and supplemented without (control) or with 50 μg/kg 25(OH)D₃. At weaning, a total of 80 pigs each from control and supplemented sows were allocated to weaning and growing-finishing basal diets fortified with 2,500 and 1,750 IU/kg vitamin D₃ respectively and supplemented without or with 50 μg/kg 25(OH)D₃.

As a result, sows fed 25(OH)D₃-supplemented diets improved pre-weaning growth rate of nursing piglets. A significant sow and pig weaning diet effect was observed for growth rate and feed efficiency during days 1 to 42 post-weaning. Pigs consuming 25(OH)D₃-supplemented diets gained weight faster, ate more and tended to convert feed to gain more efficiently than those fed the control diet between days 98 and 140 post-weaning. Supplemental 25(OH)D₃ improved water holding capacity and reduced drip loss of pork meat, increased serum 25(OH)D₃ level, produced higher interleukin-1 and lower interleukin-6 concentrations in blood circulation, downregulated myostatin and upregulated myogenic differentiation and myogenic factor 5 gene expressions. Supplementing vitamin D₃-fortified sow and wean-finish pig diets with 50 μg/kg 25(OH)D₃ significantly improved production performance suggesting their current dietary vitamin D₃ levels are insufficient.

In fulfilling the total need for vitamin D, it is strongly recommended to add 50 μg/kg 25(OH)D₃ “on top” of practical vitamin D₃-fortified sow and wean-finish pig diets deployed under commercial conditions.

Upadhaya SD, Chung TK, Jung YJ, Kim IH. Dietary 25 (OH) D3 supplementation to gestating and lactating sows and their progeny affects growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood profiles and myogenic regulatory factor-related gene expression in wean-finish pigs. Animal Bioscience. 2022; 35(3): 461. https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.21.0304