FEEDING STRATEGIES DURING THE LACTATION PERIOD FOR FIRST-PARITY SOWS

The effects of different feeding regimes during the lactation period o n feed intake, body reserves and sow performance were evaluated. A 2 x 2 factorial design was used and 183 first-parity sows were randomly a llocated to one of four treatments: sows were fed either two or three meals per day with (wet feed) or without (dry feed) supplemental water at meal time. Primiparous sows were fed ad libitum 12-16 h after part urition. The addition of water at meal time increased (P < 0.01) feed consumption by 5% over the 18-d lactation period. Increased feeding fr equency did not influence feed intake. During the first week of lactat ion, most sows gained weight, but thereafter lost weight, with the rat e of weight loss reaching a peak during the last week of lactation. Al though feed intake was influenced only by wet feeding, both an increas ed frequency of daily meals and the use of wet feeding reduced mobiliz ation of body reserves. Wet-fed sows lost less weight than dry-fed sow s and the increased feeding frequency reduced backfat loss. Average da ily gain of piglets, percentage of sows with a weaning-to-estrus inter val of less than 7 d, farrowing rate, and parity-2 litter size were si milar among the four groups. A lack of significant improvement in sow performance with different regimes may be partly related to a generall y high feed intake and minimal weight and backfat losses. Although our results failed to show a benefit on sow performance, we believe that some of the feeding strategies evaluated could be useful during period s in which sows eat less, such as in the summer, or in some herds that have feed consumption problems.