| Improving the reproductive performance of sows is always a hot topic in animal science.The production performance of gilts is determines the lifetime reproductive performance of sows.The reproductive performance of sows can be improved not only by optimizing the nutrition programs and improving management levels,but also through using feed additives.Sodium butyrate and betaine are used as feed additives for growing and finishing pigs,but their effects on the reproductive performance of sows still need to be further verification.In our study,we first choose gilts as model to explore the impact ofsodium butyrate and betaine as feed additives on the reproductive performance,colostrums composition in gilts and early postnatal growth in their offspring piglets.In this experiment,a total of sixty gilts were randomly divided into control,betaine and sodium butyrate groups(twenty per group).The sow oestrus rate,re-service rate,first mating success rate,farrowing rate,utilization rate were calculated and the backfat thickness at the initial,108 days of pregnancy and after delivery was measured.The colostrums were collected and the piglets were weighed at birth and 7-days of-age,with the body size indices measured.All the piglets were nursed by their mothers.The concentrations of protein,lactose,triglyceride,total cholesterol,IgA,IgG,and LPS were measured in colostrum,and the concentrations of T3,T4,PRL,TNF-?,leptin,and cortisol were detected in whey.1 Effects of sodium butyrate as feed additives on reproductive performance and colostrums composition of giltsSodium butyrate could not affect the ostrus rate,first mating success rate,the re-service rate,farrowing rate and utilization rate of gilts.There are no differences in gilt pregnant periods,farrowing duration,the backfat thickness at the initial,108 days of pregnancy and after delivery,born litter weight,total litter size,live litter size,weak litter size between CON and SB.The newborn piglets chest circumference and body height of SB was significantly higher than CON(P<0.01;P<0.05),however,no significant alterations were detected for newborn piglet birth weight and body length between these two groups.The 7-day body weight of piglets was tended to increase after sodium butyrate treatment(P = 0.051),average daily gain was significantly higher than control(P<0.05).Obviously,sodium butyrate could not affect the oestrus of gilts,but sodium butyrate supplementation in maternal diet has a certain impact on early postnatal growth in their offspring piglets.The concentration of colostrum from SB had significantly lower triglyceride concentration than CON(P<0.05),no significant alterations on lactoprotein,lactose,total cholesterol concentration were observed.The colostrum levels of leptin and prolactin were significantly lower than the control group(P<0.01 for leptin;P<0.05 for prolactin)and there were no significant effect on the concentrations of T3,T4 and cortisol in whey.The colostrum concentration of TNF-a in SB was significantly lower than the CON(P<0.05),the colostrum level of IgA in SB was significantly higher than control(P<0.05),the colostrum levels of IgG and LPS were not markry affected by sodium butyrate.The above results showed that sodium butyrate affected the lipid metabolism and immune function of gilts.2 Effects of betaine as feed additives on reproductive performance and colostrums composition of giltsBetaine also can significantly decrease the re-service rate(P<0.05),did not affect the ostrus rate,first mating success rate,farrowing rate and utilization rate of gilts.The backfat thickness at 108 days of pregnancy in gilts was significantly increased after betaine treated(P<0.01),the backfat thickness at the initial and after delivery was no significant affected.The weak litter size of Bet was significantly lower than CON.No differences were observed in pregnant periods,farrowing duration,born litter weight,total litter size,live litter size between CON and Bet.The newborn piglet born body weight,chest circumference and body high in Bet were significantly higher than CON(P<0.01),but the newborn piglet body length was not significantly affected;The 7-day body weight and average daily gain of piglets were significantly increased after betaine treated(P<0.01).These results indicate that betaine could not affect the oestrus of gilts,but betaine supplementation in maternal diet has an impact on fetal growth and early postnatal growth in their offspring piglets.The concentration of whey TNF-? was significantly lower in Bet,but no changes were observed in lactoprotein,lactose,total cholesterol,triglyceride and whey T3,T4,prolactin,leptin,IgA,IgG and the LPS concentrations,(P<0.05).These results indicated that the effect of dietary betaine could not significantly affect the endocrine and metabolism of sows,but only could effectively reduce the contents of TNF-? in colostrum. |
PDF Full Text Request