Fig. 5

Effects of linoleic acid intake during lactation on the subsequent reproductive cycle of sows. Symbols (n = 84 sows fed diets containing no added lipids and n = 152, 163, and 144 sows for < 115, 115 to 155, and > 155 g/d of linoleic acid intake, respectively) represent the cumulative proportion of bred and pregnant sows (relative to the number of sows weaned) (SEM = 2.9). This analysis included a total of 543 mature sows (parities 3 to 5) from 3 studies [31, 32, 48]. Sows fed diets containing no added lipids consumed 84.4 ± 20.3 g/d of linoleic acid. Increased consumption of linoleic acid (> 115 g/d) during lactation improved the proportion of weaned sows that were bred (> 88 %; day 8 post-weaning P = 0.024) and farrowed in the subsequent cycle (> 88 %; P = 0.007). Data were analyzed by logistic regression using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS using a logit link function. Means represented by symbols without a common letter are different (P < 0.05)