A. Holub et F. Dolezel, INFLUENCE OF DAILY SUCKING FREQUENCY ON THE CONSUMPTION OF LIQUID DIET IN EARLY-WEANED PIGLETS, ACT VET B, 63(3-4), 1994, pp. 121-128
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.