Identifier

etd-11142005-130338

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Animal Science (Animal, Dairy, and Poultry Sciences)

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Eighty-six primiparous or multiparous sows and their pigs were used to evaluate the effects of changing dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) in late gestation and in lactation on sow productivity. Twenty sows were used in Exp. 1, and the dietary treatments consisted of a positive control (PC) corn-soybean meal (C-SBM) diet with four levels of DCAD (140, 99, 75, and 45 mEq/kg). These DCAD’s were achieved by four levels of SoyChlor (SC) additive (0, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5%). In Exp. 2, 66 sows were used and the dietary treatments consisted of the diets providing DCAD of 140 and 45 mEq/kg. The diets were fed from d 107 of gestation to weaning in Exp. 1 and from d 111 of gestation to weaning in Exp. 2. Sows were allotted based on parity and their farrowing date. Experiment 1 was a preliminary experiment to determine the level of DCAD that reduced urinary pH. Reducing DCAD did not affect sow reproductive responses. Urinary pH was linearly decreased (P < 0.001) as DCAD decreased in the diet. Reducing DCAD tended to linearly increase (P = 0.15) plasma Ca concentrations. In Exp. 2, reducing DCAD from 140 to 45 mEq/kg reduced ADFI from d 111 of gestation to d 1 postfarrowing (P < 0.02), but ADFI was not affected by DCAD during any other period. Reducing DCAD did not affect reproductive performance of the sows nor litter response variables or plasma Ca. Decreasing DCAD in the diet decreased urinary pH (P < 0.001). Twenty-seven sows fed the PC diet and 21 sows fed the reduced DCAD diet during the previous lactation were evaluated during their subsequent farrowing. Sows that were fed the reduced DCAD diet had increased total number of pigs born (P < 0.08) and pigs born alive (P < 0.02) in the subsequent farrowing. Changing DCAD had little affect on sow and litter response variables in the current lactation, but it decreased urine pH (P < 0.001), and increased total number of pigs born (P < 0.08) and pigs born alive (P < 0.02) in the subsequent farrowing.

Date

2005

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

L. Lee Southern

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.3379

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