Optimizing dietary lipid use to improve essential fatty acid status and reproductive performance of the modern lactating sow: a review

Table 4 Effects of increasing essential fatty acid supplementation to lactation diets on the subsequent reproductive cycle of mature sows (parity 3–5 sows)^a,b

Linoleic acid, %		2.1			2.7			3.3
α-Linolenic acid, %		0.15	0.30	0.45	0.15	0.30	0.45	0.15	0.30	0.45
Item¹	Control^c										SEM
Sows weaned, n	24	24	24	23	23	24	24	22	24	23
Sows bred: weaned, %	91.7	87.6	96.0	95.7	87.0	87.5	100.0	86.4	95.8	87.5	5.7
Wean-to-estrus interval,² d	4.6^e	5.0^e	4.1^de	3.7^d	4.4^de	4.3^de	4.6^e	4.2^de	4.0^de	3.8^d	0.1
Farrowing rate,³ %	79.2^de	74.9^e	75.8^e	95.7^d	87.3^de	83.7^de	95.9^d	86.8^de	83.6^de	87.4^de	7.2
Culling rate,⁴ %	16.7^de	25.0^e	25.0^e	4.3^d	13.0^de	16.7^de	4.2^d	13.6^de	4.3^d	13.0^de	6.0

^aModified from [48]
^bDiets supplemented to lactation sows were isocaloric and contained 4 % added lipids obtained by blending canola, corn and flaxseed oils
¹Supplemental linoleic × α-linolenic acid interactions were not detected for any of the variables (P > 0.10)
^cControl diet was calculated to contain 1.3 % linoleic and 0.07 % α-linoleic acid from diet ingredients
²Linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.098, lack of fit P = 0.699)
³Proportion of sows farrowed: weaned; linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.080, lack of fit P = 0.100)
⁴Proportion of cull sows: weaned; linear tendency for supplemental α-linolenic acid (linear P = 0.079, lack of fit P = 0.662)
^d,eWithin a row, estimated means without a common superscript differ (P < 0.05)

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