The time of Calcium Feeding Affects the Productive Performance of Sows
Lumin Gao,
Xue Lin,
Chunyan Xie,
Tianyong Zhang,
Xin Wu,
Yulong Yin
Affiliations
Lumin Gao
Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China
Xue Lin
Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China
Chunyan Xie
Hunan Co-Innovation Center of Safety Animal Production, College of Animal Science and Technology; College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Tianyong Zhang
Henan Guang’an Biology Technology Co. Ltd., Zhengzhou 450001, China
Xin Wu
Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China
Yulong Yin
Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China
This study aims to investigate the effect of Calcium (Ca) feeding time on a sow’s productive performance and the profiles of serum mineral elements during late pregnancy and lactation. A total of 75 pregnant sows were assigned to three groups: The control (C), earlier-later (E-L), and later-earlier (L-E) groups. During late pregnancy, the C group was fed an extra 4.5 g Ca (in the form of CaCO3) at both 06:00 and 15:00, the E-L group was fed an extra 9 g Ca at 06:00, and the L-E group was fed an extra 9 g Ca at 15:00. Similar treatments with double the amount of Ca were applied during lactation. The results show that, compared with the C group, L-E feeding decreased the number of stillbirths and the duration of farrowing and placenta expulsion (FARPLA) and increased the average daily weight gain (ADG) of piglets. Similarly, E-L feeding increased the ADG of piglets (p < 0.05). Furthermore, both E-L and L-E feeding increased the Ca levels in sow serum and umbilical serum, and the Fe levels in umbilical serum, but decreased the Ca levels in the placenta and colostrum (p < 0.05). Experiments on the genes involved in mineral element transport showed that E-L feeding activated the mRNA expression of TRPV5, S100G, SLC30A7, SLC39A4, and Ferroportin1, while it inhibited the mRNA expression of ATP7A in the placenta (p < 0.05). Moreover, L-E feeding up-regulated the mRNA expression of ATP2B and IREB2, while it down-regulated the mRNA expression of ATP7B in the placenta (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that maternal Ca feeding at 15:00 h during late pregnancy and lactation decreased FARPLA and stillbirths and improved the growth performance of suckling piglets by altering the mineral element of the metabolism in the umbilical serum and milk, compared to conventional feeding regimes.
