The lysine requirement of lactating primiparous sows

We conducted an experiment with 289 primiparous sows to evaluate the effect of lysine intake on lactation and subsequent reproductive performance. Sows were randomly allotted to one of five experimental corn-soybean meal lactation diets. The first four diets contained incremental levels of apparently digestible lysine (.67, .86, 1.06, and 1.25%) and provided digestible lysine intakes of 27, 34, 41, and 48 g/d. All lysine was derived from intact protein sources. Synthetic valine, threonine, and methionine were used to maintain ratios to lysine that were equal to those of the .67% lysine diet. The fifth diet contained 1.06% digestible lysine and provided 43 g/d digestible lysine, but no additional synthetic amino acids were added. The average lactation length in this study was 16.9 +/- .2 d. Lysine intake during lactation did not affect number of pigs weaned, litter growth rate, sow backfat loss, or weaning to mating interval. Sow weight loss and loin eye area loss decreased quadratically (P < .05) with increasing lysine intake. These were minimized at 45 and 48 g/d digestible lysine, respectively. Removing synthetic amino acids from the 1.06% digestible lysine diet resulted in an increased litter growth rate (1.98 vs 2.15 kg/d, P < .05). Increasing dietary lysine intake while maintaining amino acid ratios to lysine for valine, threonine, and total sulfur amino acids during the first lactation resulted in a linear (P < .05) decrease in second litter total born. However, removal of synthetic amino acids from the 1.06% digestible lysine diet resulted in an increased second litter total born (12.9 vs 11.2, P < .05), which tended to be higher compared with the .67% digestible lysine treatment (12.9 vs 11.7, P = .13). The results suggest that primiparous sows are able to mobilize sufficient body reserves to maintain a high level of milk production at low levels of lysine intake during a 17-d lactation. Higher levels (45 to 48 g/d) of digestible lysine are required to minimize body protein loss. The source or composition of amino acids in the lactation diet may have an effect on second litter size.