Skip to main content
. 2020 Feb 7;11:4. doi: 10.1186/s40104-019-0414-x

Table 4.

Energy balance of sows fed Control (CON; 187.4 g/kg crude protein), Optimal (OPT; 137.8 g/kg crude protein) or Optimal + Leucine (OPTLEU; 142.5 g/kg) diets between day 4 and 8 of lactation (early lactation) and between day 14 and 18 of lactation (peak lactation)1

Item Diet SEM2 P-value
CON OPT OPTLEU OPT vs. CON OPT LEU vs. CON OPTLEU vs. OPT
Early lactation (day 4 to 8)
 Number of sows 12 11 11
Input
 Feed intake, kg/d 4.9 4.9 4.6 0.2 0.981 0.415 0.530
 Energy intake, MJ/d 84.68 83.27 79.82 3.53 0.937 0.475 0.690
 Energy absorbed, MJ/d 74.52 72.40 67.81 3.36 0.869 0.268 0.536
Output, kg/d
 Feces (dry matter basis) 0.52 0.54 0.59 0.06 0.980 0.716 0.827
 Urine (as-is) 10.68 4.66 5.49 1.68 0.041 0.087 0.930
 Milk (as-is) 8.82 8.86 9.51 0.85 0.999 0.762 0.789
Energy concentration, MJ/kg
 Feces (dry matter basis) 19.41 20.20 20.10 0.13 < 0.001 < 0.001 0.756
 Urine (as-is) 0.22 0.26 0.26 0.05 0.766 0.791 0.999
 Milk (as-is) 4.72 5.10 4.75 0.21 0.170 0.989 0.232
Energy output, MJ/d
 Feces 10.08 10.88 11.79 1.03 0.847 0.477 0.808
 Urine 1.68 1.10 1.23 0.28 0.311 0.481 0.948
 Milk 41.35 45.38 44.74 3.71 0.718 0.791 0.992
Energy for maintenance, MJ/d3 25.94 26.76 26.02 0.59 0.442 0.992 0.502
Total energy retention, MJ/d4 46.92 44.66 40.37 3.57 0.926 0.113 0.222
Maternal energy retention, MJ/d5 5.84 −0.97 −1.83 3.93 0.434 0.352 0.987
Peak lactation (day 14 to 18)
 Number of sows 11 11 11
Input
 Feed intake, kg/d 6.8* 6.7* 6.3* 0.2 0.975 0.169 0.242
 Energy intake, MJ/d 116.79* 114.95* 109.64* 3.50 0.898 0.216 0.418
 Energy absorbed, MJ/d 102.84* 100.22* 93.08* 3.34 0.811 0.073 0.230
Output, kg/d
 Feces (dry matter basis) 0.72* 0.74* 0.81* 0.06 0.969 0.463 0.605
 Urine (as-is) 12.04* 5.64 6.14 1.68 0.029 0.047 0.974
 Milk (as-is) 11.68* 13.93* 12.13* 0.85 0.077 0.893 0.178
Energy concentration, MJ/kg
 Feces (dry matter basis) 19.41 20.20 20.10 0.13 < 0.001 < 0.001 0.756
 Urine (as-is) 0.26 0.25 0.31 0.05 0.973 0.750 0.613
 Milk (as-is) 4.45 5.03 4.81 0.21 0.027 0.213 0.562
Energy output, MJ/d
 Feces 13.85* 14.87* 16.33* 1.03 0.766 0.223 0.581
 Urine 2.50* 1.29 1.77 0.28 0.012 0.163 0.446
 Milk 51.76* 70.21* 58.09* 3.73 0.005 0.461 0.072
Energy for maintenance, MJ/d3 26.26 26.26 26.31 0.59 0.999 0.997 0.996
Total energy retention, MJ/d4 74.15* 72.51* 65.06* 3.54 0.926 0.113 0.222
Maternal energy retention, MJ/d5 22.51* 2.26 7.05 3.92 0.003 0.026 0.668

1Data are least squares means

2Maximum value of the standard error of the means

3Energy required for maintenance (MJ/d) was calculated as 0.42 MJ/kg0.75 [13]

4Total energy retention = energy intake-fecal energy-urinary energy-maintenance energy

5Maternal energy retention = energy intake-fecal energy-urinary energy-maintenance energy-milk energy

*Main effect of period (early and late) was significant (P < 0.05)

Main effect of period (early and late) tended to be significant: urinary energy output (OPTLEU P = 0.054); maternal energy retention (OPTLEU P = 0.088)