Maternal Ferrous Sucrose Supplementation Improves Reproductive Performance of Sows and Hepatic Iron Stores of...

As one of the most important trace elements required by sows, especially in the late gestation period, iron plays a crucial role in the growth and development of a fetus. To explore the effects of dietary supplementation with ferrous sucrose on the reproductive performance of sows and the hepatic iron stores in offspring, sixty primiparous Landrace × Yorkshire sows on day 95 of gestation with an average body weight of 174.1 ± 7.7 kg were randomly assigned to two groups of a basic diet (control) and a basic diet supplemented with 109 mg/kg ferrous sucrose (FS) in a fully randomized block design. The trial lasted for 20 days. The results showed that maternal supplementation with ferrous sucrose significantly increased litter weight (p = 0.002) in neonatal piglets. Compared with the control group, the serum iron and serum transferrin saturation of farrowing sows increased by 45.67% (p = 0.002) and 37.01% (p = 0.033), respectively, and umbilical cord serum iron (p = 0.012) also increased in the FS group. Finally, the serum iron (p < 0.001) and hepatic iron stores (p = 0.071) of neonatal piglets were both increased to varying degrees. Taken together, supplementation of pregnant sows with ferrous sucrose has positive effects on the growth and hepatic iron stores of their offspring.