Survival and postweaning performance of pigs from sows fed fat during late gestation and lactation

Sows were fed a control corn-soybean meal gestation diet to d 80 of gestation. One group of sows (n = 25) continued receiving the control diet until the end of lactation, whereas two groups were placed on other treatments. One group (n = 27) was fed a diet containing 5% added solid fat pellets from gestation d 80 through lactation, whereas another group (n = 25) was fed a diet with 10% added solid fat pellet from gestation d 100 through d 14 of lactation. Feed supply was 2.27 kg/d during gestation and to appetite during lactation. Pigs from sows fed the control diet or 5% solid fat pellet diet were weaned with an age range of 22 to 28 d and immediately allotted in a 2 x 3 factorially designed 4-wk feeding trial. Pigs from these two sow groups were fed diets 1) without fat, 2) with 4.5% choice white grease or 3) with 5% solid fat pellet. Sow weight loss, backfat change and pig weights were not different at weaning among treatments. Survival rates of all pigs to 21 d averaged 90% with no significant differences between treatments. Pigs from fat-fed sows had more (P less than .05) glycogen per gram of liver, 41% more total liver glycogen and 16% more serum glucose at birth. Weanling pigs from fat-fed sows grew slower (P less than .05) than pigs from control sows. Supplemental fat during gestation increased liver glycogen of pigs, which should help survival, but the feeding of fat throughout lactation had a negative effect on ADG during a 4-wk postweaning period.