Table 5.
Effects of feeding vitamin D3 alone or in combination with 25(OH)D3 on sow and preweaned piglet performance1
| Diet 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 < | |
| Sows, n | 23 | 23 | 23 | --- | --- |
| Parity | 2.35 | 2.35 | 2.52 | --- | --- |
| Lactation ADFI, kg | 5.61 | 5.76 | 5.67 | 0.198 | 0.865 |
| Sow BW, kg | |||||
| Gestation | |||||
| Day 0 | 184.6 | 184.0 | 191.1 | 6.226 | 0.672 |
| Day 110 | 229.4 | 231.1 | 231.3 | 4.672 | 0.950 |
| BW gain, kg | 44.8 | 47.1 | 40.2 | 3.894 | 0.444 |
| Lactation | |||||
| Day 0 | 212.2 | 215.0 | 216.5 | 4.633 | 0.801 |
| Day 21 | 208.0 | 210.6 | 210.6 | 4.996 | 0.912 |
| BW loss, kg | −4.2 | −4.3 | −5.9 | 1.993 | 0.807 |
| Litter characteristics | |||||
| Total born, n | 17.28 | 16.73 | 17.86 | 0.881 | 0.652 |
| Born alive, % | 87.80 | 92.13 | 89.67 | 1.960 | 0.283 |
| Stillborn, % | 9.53 | 6.93 | 9.42 | 5.048 | 0.891 |
| Mummies, % | 3.90 | 2.27 | 2.86 | 2.771 | 0.864 |
| Standardized litter size,3n | 14.00 | 13.83 | 13.96 | 0.780 | 0.987 |
| Weaning litter size, n | 13.00 | 13.09 | 13.00 | 0.754 | 0.996 |
| Survivability, % | 93.08 | 95.07 | 93.57 | 1.766 | 0.706 |
| Piglet BW, kg | |||||
| Birth | 1.37 | 1.42 | 1.33 | 0.041 | 0.307 |
| Weaning | 5.62 | 5.45 | 5.33 | 0.155 | 0.409 |
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.
2Three maternal dietary treatments were fed. 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) were used to achieve desired vitamin D3 concentrations for each treatment.
3Cross fostering occurred within treatment and within 48 h to equalize litter size.