Table 2.

The effects of dietary alfalfa supplementation on the reproductive performance of gestation sow.

Feeding stage	Alfalfa addition form	Amount	Main results	References
First three successive gestation periods	Alfalfa hay	96.75%	The number of piglets born live per litter, individual birth weight, and individual weaning weight in the third generation of sows ↑	(49)
Gestation	Alfalfa meal	10%	IUGR ↓;Intestinal inflammatory factors ↓; Lactation feed intake ↑; Intestinal anti-inflammatory flora ↑	(50)
Before breeding and during gestation	Sun-cured alfalfa	18%	The number of corpora lutea ↑; Litter numbers ↑; The number of piglets that survived weaning ↑	(51)
Gestation	Alfalfa	50%	Weight gain ↓; Piglets alive at 14 days ↑; The total survival rate of piglets at 14 days over three reproductive cycles of sows ↑	(52)
Gestation until the end of lactation	Dehydrated alfalfa meal	10%	The number of weaned piglets ↑; Average litter weight of piglets ↑	(53)