• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1540-1546
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• 2009

One hundred and forty-four piglets with an average birth weight of 1,672${\pm}$13.4 g were used to evaluate different feeding strategies for piglets reared from birth on a dummy sow. A 3${\times}$2 factorial experiment compared three nursing frequencies (1, 3 or 6 h intervals) and two feeding regimes (milk only, or milk combined with access to creep feed and water). The piglets which were nursed at one hour intervals had the lightest body weights at all days, and the poorest combined milk and creep feed dry matter conversion efficiency to piglet body weight gain in the second week. Piglets which were nursed at 3 h intervals had the heaviest body weight at day 15 and 22, but those nursed at 6 h intervals achieved similar body weight by days 29 (milk withdrawal) and 36. Piglets offered creep feed were observed to wean themselves before cessation of milk availability, and the timing of this self-weaning depended on the nursing frequency. The piglets nursed at one hour intervals weaned themselves between day 22 and day 29, those nursed at 3 h intervals weaned themselves between day 15 and day 22, whilst those nursed at 6 h intervals weaned themselves between day 8 and day 15. The piglets which were nursed at 6 h intervals had the highest total dry matter intake in weeks 3 and 4 when fed with milk, creep feed and water but not when fed milk only. They consequently had the poorest dry matter conversion efficiency in the fourth week and overall when fed with milk, creep feed and water, but not when fed milk only. It is concluded that the optimal management routine under these conditions is a 3 h nursing cycle with provision of supplementary creep feed and water.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2020

The goal of this study was to determine an effective interval of playing a nursing sound stimulus. One hundred forty four lactating multiparous sows (Landrace; parity range: 2 to 7) and their litters (Landrace × Yorkshire) were divided into 3 block (48 each), each of which was randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups including control which had no call stimulus (n = 12 each). The call of nursing and suckling, plus a click sound, were used as a nursing sound stimulus that was played in the intervals of 35 min (T35), 40 min (T40) and 45 min (T45) right after the first parturition in each experimental group until the day of weaning. Nursing sound stimuli did not affect the sow feed intake and back fat thickness loss. No differences were detected among treatments in the percentages of sows returning to estrus within 5 days after weaning and sows without crushed piglets. However, the piglets' weaning weight and daily weight gain in T35 and T40 groups was greater (p < 0.01) than the controlled piglets. These results suggest that a nursing sound stimulus can improve the performance of suckling piglets, and that 35 or 40 min interval of playing a nursing sound could be the effective sound stimulus for nursing sows.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.516-524
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary spray-dried plasma (SDP) on the gut microbiota of lactating sows and their piglets. A total of 12 sows were randomly assigned to one of two dietary treatment groups in a completely randomized design. The treatments were a sow diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON), and a CON diet with an added 1% SDP. The sows were fed the dietary treatments from d 30 before farrowing to weaning (d 28). The fecal samples of three sows from each treatment and two of their randomly selected piglets were collected to verify their fecal microbiota. There were no differences in the alpha diversity and distinct clustering of the microbial communities in the sows and their piglets when SDP was added to the sow diets from late gestation to weaning. The fecal microbiota of the lactating sows and their piglets showed a higher relative abundance of the phylum Bacteroidota and genus Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus and showed a lower relative abundance of the phylum Bacillota and genus Bacteroides, Escherichia/Shigella, and Clostridium in the sows fed the SDP diet than those fed the CON diet. Overall, these results show that the addition of SDP to the sow diet during lactation altered the gut environment with positive microbial composition changes. These results were similar in the nursing piglets, suggesting that the control of the sow diets during lactation may contribute to the intestinal health and growth in piglets after weaning.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of parity and postpartum day on the behavior of nursing sows and their suckling piglets. Total 36 Landrace or Yorkshire sows(range of parity: 1 to 8) and their litters(range of litter size: 11 to 13 piglets) were assigned with sow's parity($1{\sim}2,\;3{\sim}4$ and 5 or more) and sow's postpartum days(day 1, 7, 14 and 21). The sows were housed in farrowing crates($0.6{\times}2.1m$) located in pens($2.4{\times}1.8m$) with totally perforated flooring. The sows and piglets were conventionally managed. The sows and their piglets behaviors were recorded during the 24 hour period at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days of postpartum. The obtained results from this study were as follows; 1. All the nursing sows in both group made attempts for lateral tying more than for other behaviors for whole days. The order of behavioral frequency at 1 and 3 weeks postpartum according the days of postpartum of sows was lateral tying, ventral lying, standing, sitting, feeding and drinking. The nursing sows at day 1 postpartum spent more time on sitting and standing than the sows at day 7 or more postpartum. 2. The parity of sows did not affected the lateral tying and sitting behavior of nursing sows, however the ventral tying are lowed in $1{\sim}2$ parity of sow group than the other parity group. Standing, feeding and drinking behavior of sows was not showed at any trends according to the sow's parity. 3. In the behaviors of suckling piglets, lying was increased and unsuccessful suckling was decreased until 21 days postpartum. Compared to the 7, 14 and 21 day postpartum, piglets at the 1 day postpartum spent less time for lying and walking, whereas they spent much more time for unsuccessful suckling. 4. According th the sow's parity, their piglets tying and unsuccessful suckling was lowed in $1{\sim}2$ parity sow group, however more than 3 parity sow's piglets behavior are not affected.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.627-632
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• 2003

Piglets communicate with their sow by using special sounds and synchronize their suckling behavior with their mother’s grunting. This study sought to find an effective sound for controlling the nursing/suckling behavior of pigs. Eighteen crossbred Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire sows and their piglets were studied on days 1, 7, and 14 post-partum. The parity of the sows was three or four. The litter size ranged from 9 to 11, with a mean of 10.4 piglets. Thirty minutes after the end of the last suckling, either the nursing-suckling sound (NSS) or the nursing-suckling sound + click sound (NSSCS) was played for 90 s randomly, and this experiment was repeated three times. The behavior of the sows and their piglets was recorded using camcorders and observed each second. When comparing NSS and NSSCS, there was less lying and sleeping and more sitting, standing, walking, and massaging when NSSCS was played than when NSS was played. These results suggest that NSSCS may induce more nursing and suckling in pigs than NSS.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.359-365
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• 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate effects of dietary multi-carbohydrases (MCS) in a lactating sow diet on productive performance and immune responses of sows and their piglets. A total of 12 sows (218.37 ± 5.5 kg BW; 2 parity) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments: a diet based on corn-soybean meal (CON) and CON with 0.01% MCS. The MCS contained xylanase (2,700 units/g), β-glucanase (700 units/g), and cellulase (800 units/g). Sows were fed the dietary treatments for 28 days (weaning) after farrowing. Blood samples were collected from sows on d 0, 3, and 7 after farrowing and randomly selected 2 nursing piglets in each sow on d 3, 7, and 14 after birth. Measurements were productive performance of sows, frequency of diarrhea of piglets, and immune responses of sows and their piglets. Sows fed MCS had lower (p < 0.05) their body weight change than those fed CON. Piglets from sows fed MCS had higher (p < 0.05) average weight gain and body weight at weaning day and lower (p < 0.10) frequency of diarrhea than those from sows fed CON. Sows fed MCS had lower number of white blood cells (WBC) on d 3 (p < 0.05) and TGF-β1 on d 7 (p < 0.10) during lactation than those fed CON. Similarly, piglets from sows fed MCS had also lower (p < 0.05) number of WBC on d 3 and d 7 and TGF-β1 and C-reactive protein on d 7 during lactation than those from sows fed CON. In addition, piglets from sows fed MCS had higher (p < 0.10) immunoglobulin G and M on d 7 during lactation those from sows fed CON. In conclusion, addition of dietary MCS in the lactating sow diet based on corn and soybean meal improved productive performance of sows and their litters and modulated their immune responses.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1485-1491
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• 2005

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of iron from an amino acid complex (Availa-$Fe^{\circledR}$) on the iron status of neonatal and suckling piglets. A total of 24 gestating sows (Landrace${\times}$Large White) were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments. The control diet contained 80 mg $kg^{-1}$ Fe from ferrous sulfate heptahydrate ($FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$), while the two experimental diets were supplemented with an additional 120 mg $kg^{-1}$ Fe from Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ or $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$, respectively. The lactating sows remained the same iron treatments as gestating sows, while neonatal piglets of 24 litters born from the above sows were allotted to another three treatments. Piglets from the sows of the control treatment were fed basal diet with no supplemental Fe as control treatment, but were injected with 100 mg Fe as Fe dextran at birth. Piglets from the sows of Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ or $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$ treatments were supplemented with 120 mg $kg^{-1}$ iron from Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ or $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$, respectively. The total born alive and weaned, and the average piglets weight at birth and at weaning were not significantly affected by the sow' dietary treatments (p>0.05). Iron from Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit and plasma iron of sows on day 90 and 105 of pregnancy and the milk iron of sows during lactation (p>0.05). Neonatal piglets in the Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ treatment had a significantly higher hemoglobin concentration (p<0.05) and higher hematocrit and plasma iron (p>0.05) than those in the other two treatments, respectively. The hemoglobin of suckling piglets in the Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ treatment was higher than that of piglets in $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$ treatment on day 28 (p<0.05). The total iron binding capacity of piglets in Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ treatment was lower than that of piglets in the control and $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$ treatment on day 14 (p<0.05), but there was not a statistically significant difference among three treatments on day 28 (p>0.05). However, the hemoglobin and hematocrit of suckling piglets injected with Fe were higher than those of piglets in the other two treatments (p<0.05). This study indicated that the addition of 120 mg $kg^{-1}$ iron from amino acid complex into the diets improved iron status of neonatal and nursing piglets more effectively than the addition of 120 mg $kg^{-1}$ iron from $FeSO_4$.$7H_2O$, however, this improvement of the organic Fe was not sufficient to replace the Fe injection for prevention of iron-deficiency anemia.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.1076-1085
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• 2021

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of spray-dried plasma (SDP) supplementation during late gestation and lactation on productive performance and immune responses of sows and their litters. Twelve sows (227.78 ± 2.16 kg average body weight; 2.0 average parity) were randomly allotted to two dietary treatments: a basal diet (CON) and the basal diet supplemented with 1% SDP. Sows were fed experimental diets from d 30 before farrowing to weaning of their piglets. Blood samples were collected from sows on d 1, 3, and 7 of lactation and from two randomly selected nursing pigs per litter on d 3 and 7 after birth, and d 1, 3, and 7 after weaning. Productive performance and immune responses of sows and their piglets were measured. There was a trend of less body weight loss in sows supplemented with SDP (p < 0.10) during the lactation period and a trend of greater (p < 0.10) average daily gain in SDP piglets compared to those in the CON group. Sows in the SDP group tended to have lower (p < 0.10) serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and cortisol on d 3 and lower serum concentration of TNF-α on d 7 compared with sows in CON group. In comparison with CON piglets, piglets from SDP sows tended to have lower (p < 0.10) serum concentrations of TNF-α, TGF-β1, and cortisol on d 7 after birth, lower (p < 0.10) serum TNF-α and C-reactive protein on d 3 and 7 after weaning, and greater (p < 0.10) average daily gain after weaning. Moreover, weaned pigs from sows fed SDP had significantly lower (p < 0.05) serum concentrations of cortisol and TGF-β1 on d 3 and 7 postweaning, respectively, than CON piglets. In conclusion, SDP supplementation in sow diets from late gestation to weaning improved the productive performance of sows and their offspring; the beneficial effects of SDP may be mediated in part through modulation of immune responses of both sows and piglets.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.218-222
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• 1984

The present study was carried out to investigate the behaviour of parturition, nursing and sleep with a total of 40 sows and 420 piglets during 28 days from July 6 to August 3, 1984. The results obtained in this study were as follows: 1. About half number of sows employed were recumbent and lay on their right or left side throughout the process of delivery, but the rest changed their lying sides during the delivery, about 65% of piglets born were presented anteriorly. During nursing 51.3% of sows were recumbent and lay on their left side. 2. The entire farrowing process normally lasted 4 hr. Piglets were expelled at an average rate of one for every 19.3mim. 3. The first suckling attempt was observed at about 24.3min after birth. "Teat order" were established within 32hr after birth. 4. The duration and time of nursing were 35.8 second and 24.6 times/day, respectively, in the first day of piglet life. However, they tended to shorten with the advance of lactation. The intervals between nursings were 58.5 min. in the first day of piglet life, but it tended to lengthen with the advance of lactation. 5. The sows were awake for 31.7%. drowsy for 16.7%, and asleep for 51.6% of the 24hr period a day.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.191-194
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• 2002

The nursing vocalization of domestic pigs(Landrace$\times$Yorkshire) was investigated with respect to common features. All vocalizations uttered during nursings in 5 sows at 5 days after farrowing were recorded and 305 grunts were processed in a spectrograph. The sow's repeated grunting during nursing can be regarded as a contact call and a signal of the mother to start and synchronize the suckling behavior of the piglets. Analysis in the time domain revealed the gross structure of the call, whereas in the frequency domain the fine structure of single grunts was investigated. Nursing interval, duration of nursing behavior, duration of grunt, grunt rate per 10 seconds, fundamental frequency, 1 formant, 2 formant, 3 formant, 4 formant and spectrum were investigated. The results showed that mean interval between the nursing following one another was 25, 4.6 min and duration of nursing behavior was 3.2 $\pm$ 0.7 min. Average duration of grunt was 203.9 $\pm$ 63.6 ms. The formant contours could be identified. The nursing behavior might be disturbed by the grunts of alien sow.