Table 10.

Effects of feeding 25(OH)D₃ on nursery pig growth performance^1,2

	Maternal and nursery diet3
	1,500 IU D3	500 IU D3 and 25 μg 25(OH)D3	1,500 IU D3 and 50 μg 25(OH)D3	SEM	Probability, P <
Days 0–14
ADG, kg	0.143	0.161	0.156	0.009	0.385
ADFI, kg	0.215	0.223	0.215	0.009	0.762
G:F	0.665	0.712	0.729	0.022	0.132
Day 0–21
ADG, kg	0.230	0.251	0.233	0.009	0.242
ADFI, kg	0.383	0.397	0.377	0.009	0.287
G:F	0.601	0.630	0.619	0.017	0.496
Days 21–28
ADG, kg	0.502	0.521	0.523	0.014	0.513
ADFI, kg	0.723	0.750	0.725	0.016	0.421
G:F	0.694	0.694	0.721	0.013	0.277
Days 28–59
ADG, kg	0.702	0.675	0.713	0.014	0.149
ADFI, kg	1.217	1.211	1.196	0.021	0.773
G:F	0.577a,b	0.557b	0.596a	0.007	0.002
Days 0–59
ADG, kg	0.508	0.504	0.517	0.010	0.643
ADFI, kg	0.858	0.863	0.845	0.014	0.649
G:F	0.593a,b	0.583b	0.613a	0.007	0.015
BW, kg
Day 0	5.71	5.67	5.71	0.058	0.827
Day 14	7.72	7.98	7.90	0.156	0.472
Day 21	10.70	11.03	10.61	0.225	0.398
Day 28	14.22	14.75	14.35	0.262	0.341
Day 59	35.98	35.68	36.59	0.575	0.529

^a,bMeans within a row with different superscripts differ (P < 0.05).

¹A total of 69 sows (DNA Line 200 × 400) and their progeny over three consecutive farrowing groups were used to determine if feeding a combination of vitamin D₃ and 25(OH)D₃ influences neonatal and sow performance and vitamin D status, muscle fiber morphometrics, and subsequent growth performance of the piglets. A total of 216 weaned pigs were used in a 59 d nursery growth trial with 6 pigs per pen and 12 pens per treatment.

²Experimental diets were fed from day 0 to 59 in two phases.

³Three dietary treatments were fed using vitamin D₃ (Rovimix D3-500, DSM Nutrition Products, Parsippany, NJ) and/or 25(OH)D₃ (Hy-D Premix 137.5 mg/kg, DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, NJ) to achieve desired vitamin D₃ concentrations for each treatment.