Table 4.

Effects of increasing essential fatty acid supplementation to lactation diets on the subsequent reproductive cycle of mature sows (parity 3–5 sows)^a,b

Linoleic acid, %		2.1			2.7			3.3
α-Linolenic acid, %		0.15	0.30	0.45	0.15	0.30	0.45	0.15	0.30	0.45
Item1	Controlc										SEM
Sows weaned, n	24	24	24	23	23	24	24	22	24	23
Sows bred: weaned, %	91.7	87.6	96.0	95.7	87.0	87.5	100.0	86.4	95.8	87.5	5.7
Wean-to-estrus interval,2 d	4.6e	5.0e	4.1de	3.7d	4.4de	4.3de	4.6e	4.2de	4.0de	3.8d	0.1
Farrowing rate,3 %	79.2de	74.9e	75.8e	95.7d	87.3de	83.7de	95.9d	86.8de	83.6de	87.4de	7.2
Culling rate,4 %	16.7de	25.0e	25.0e	4.3d	13.0de	16.7de	4.2d	13.6de	4.3d	13.0de	6.0

^aModified from [48]

^bDiets supplemented to lactation sows were isocaloric and contained 4 % added lipids obtained by blending canola, corn and flaxseed oils

¹Supplemental linoleic × α-linolenic acid interactions were not detected for any of the variables (P > 0.10)

^cControl diet was calculated to contain 1.3 % linoleic and 0.07 % α-linoleic acid from diet ingredients

²Linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.098, lack of fit P = 0.699)

³Proportion of sows farrowed: weaned; linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.080, lack of fit P = 0.100)

⁴Proportion of cull sows: weaned; linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.079, lack of fit P = 0.662)

^d,eWithin a row, estimated means without a common superscript differ (P < 0.05)