247 Effects of Feeding Frequency During Lactation on Sow and Litter Performance

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding frequency on sow and litter performance during lactation. At d 109 of gestation, a total of 300 sows (Landrace × Yorkshire; BW 245± 3.2 kg; parity 2.54 ± 0.21); were blocked by parity and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments. The treatments were: sows fed twice daily at 0730 and 1530 h (T1) or 3 times daily at 0730, 1130, and 1530 h (T2). Sows were fed a corn-soybean meal- containing 3.4 Mcal of ME/kg and 1.03% SID Lys. Sow BW and BF measurements were recorded at d 109 and at weaning. Litters were cross-fostered within treatments within 24-h after farrowing, and litter weights were collected at 12-h post-farrow, and again at weaning. Normality of the data set was checked using proc univariate procedure of SAS and analyzed using GLIMMIX procedure. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05, and a trend as 0.05 < P ≤ 0.10. An individual sow and a litter were the experimental unit. Comparisons were performed with Student’s t-test at 5% of significance. No evidence (P > 0.10) for treatment differences were observed in sow BW, BF, total born, mummified fetuses, stillbirth rate, and litter or piglet weight gain during lactation. Sows fed twice daily had a greater (9.8 % vs. 11.2 %) (P < 0.05) pre-weaning mortality during lactation period than sows fed 3 times daily. In conclusion, feeding sows 3 times daily exhibited the potential to reduce the pre-weaning mortality rate by 1.4% during lactation.