On-demand: Webinar on lactating sow nutrition

Broadcasted on Thursday, March 11, it featured Dr Mark Giesemann, swine technical manager for Adisseo in the United States.

Click here to view the webinar on demand

Factors essential for sow feed intake

The webinar was divided into 2 pieces. First, Dr Giesemann explained why the sows’ feed intake should be sufficient during lactation. He quoted recent research by Samuel Hawe and others of the Agro-Food Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Northern Ireland, which clearly indicates that lower feed intake leads to less piglet weaning weight and lower productivity.

That means it is imperative to figure out which factors affect feed intake during lactation. He summed up factors like health, stage of lactation, parity, genetics and gestation feed intake. Also housing parameters make a difference, he said, as well as factors surrounding the feed.

Improving digestible nutrient intake of sows

Following up on this introduction, Dr Giesemann shared results of recent trials on how to increase feed intake of lactating sows. He shared information about the feed additive Krave AP. He showed data from for instance studies in Brazil, where it was observed that the feed additive had an impact on increasing sow feed intake. That in turn improves milk yield and litter weight gain, he said.

The feed additive Rovabio received attention as well. This enzyme based feed additive helps with sow feed digestibility, which translates for instance into less weight loss of sows during lactation. He also showed a meta-analysis with supporting evidence.

Click here to view the webinar on demand