INFLUENCE OF DAILY SUCKING FREQUENCY ON THE CONSUMPTION OF LIQUID DIET IN EARLY-WEANED PIGLETS

In 58 Large White piglets weaned on the second day after birth and rea red individually in two groups in a thermoneutral zone on a liquid 78. 47% dehydrated diet of a macronutrient content similar to that of sows ' milk the consumption of the liquid diet, gross energy (GE), water, N substances and lipids was measured up to 4 weeks of age. One group wa s offered the diet for sucking 10 times a day at 2-hour intervals and the other group, 6 times a day at 3-hour intervals. The consumption of diet, BE, water and macronutrients was high in all piglets. There wer e no significant differences in sucked meal size between the two group s fed at different frequency, except at the end of the 4th postnatal w eek. However, when related to live body mass or metabolic mass, the me al size was significantly (P<0.05) greater in less frequently fed pigl ets between 5 and 7 d and from 12 d onwards. Nevertheless, the daily i ngestion of the diet and its components by less frequently sucking pig lets was lower. Related to live body mass and metabolic mass, the dail y ingestion of the diet by these animals was lower only up to 13 d. Af terwards this difference disappeared; from 14 d the piglets were able to compensate effectively for the limited frequency of contact with fo od. It is concluded that the control of high consumption of food in pi glets kept in isolation changes at the end of the second postnatal wee k, i. e., in the weaning period, in that the role of short-term local conditions in the gastrointestinal tract begins all at once be overlap ped by long-term control mechanisms reflecting the metabolic situation of the individual more accurately.