PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE INTERRELATION BETWEEN SOW MILK QUALITY AND LITTER PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO THEIR HEALTH

Mihaela Hăbeanu, Cristina Tabuc, Anca Gheorghe, Mariana Ropota, Mihaela Dumitru, Loredana Călin, T. Mihalcea, M. Palade

Abstract
    Our objective was to determine whether the increase through diet of the fatty acids (FA) composition in sows colostrum and milk was associated with litter performances and their biochemical profile. The study was conducted in 4 sows TOPIGS (48 litter) allocated into 2 groups: control and Hemp diets. Litters were divided into two dietary treatments: control diet and control plus 2.5% additive based on L acidophilus (50%) and L. Plantarum (50%) bacterial strain. The FAs composition of the colostrum and milk (7 and 21 days) was determined by gas chromatography. The sow and litter biochemical profile was determined with BS-130 automatic analyser. The addition of hemp in feed of Hemp group sows starting the last 10 days of gestation significantly influenced the colostrum and milk composition in polyunsaturated FAs, n-3 and n-6 FAs. In Hemp group α-linolenic FA content in colostrum was 1.4 times higher than in the control group, 1.64 times higher after 7 days of lactation and 1.45 times higher after 21 days of lactation compared to control group. The dietary addition of hemp lead to a reduction of ratio n-6: n-3 in milk. This was positive reflected in the litter performances (>3.8% at litter from Hemp group sow compared to C group) and their health. The microbial additive reinforced the positive effects on growth parameters (>20% at litter from Hemp group sow and > 25% at litter from control group respectively). Both sows and piglets serum biochemical parameters were within physiological limit. In conclusion, feed composition can beneficially influence colostrum / milk fatty acids composition in relation to litter performances, biochemical parameters and health. Milk fat quality had positive effects on piglet performance and their health, as shown by the biochemical plasma parameters.

Key words: sows, fatty acids, milk, litter performance, biochemical parameters