Effects of dietary protein levels for gestating gilts on reproductive performance, blood metabolites and milk composition

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary CP levels in gestation under equal lysine content on reproductive performance, blood metabolites and milk composition of gilts. A total of 25 gilts (F1, Yorkshire×Landrace) were allotted to 4 dietary treatments at breeding in a completely randomized design, and fed 1 of 4 experimental diets containing different CP levels (11%, 13%, 15%, or 17%) at 2.0 kg/d throughout the gestation. Body weight of gilts at 24 h postpartum tended to increase linearly (p = 0.09) as dietary CP level increased. In lactation, backfat thickness, ADFI, litter size and weaning to estrus interval (WEI) did not differ among dietary treatments. There were linear increases in litter and piglet weight at 21 d of lactation (p