Reduced protein diet with near ideal amino acid profile improves energy efficiency and mitigate heat production associated with lactation in sows

Table 3 Sow and litter growth performance of sows fed Control (CON; 187.4 g/kg crude protein), Optimal (OPT; 137.8 g/kg crude protein) or Optimal + Leucine (OPTLEU; 142.5 g/kg) diets over a 21-day lactation period¹

Item	Diet			SEM²	P-value
Item	CON	OPT	OPTLEU	SEM²	OPT vs. CON	OPT LEU vs. CON	OPTLEU vs. OPT
Number of sows	18	19	17
Body protein day 1³, kg	38.7	38.5	39.0	1.5	0.997	0.962	0.937
Body protein day 21³, kg	38.7	38.3	39.4	1.4	0.952	0.876	0.719
Protein mobilization⁴, g/d	5.5	−12.8	21.8	21.0	0.803	0.847	0.497
Protein tissue mobilization⁵, g/d	27.5	−64.0	109.0	105.0	0.803	0.847	0.497
Body lipid day 1³, kg	48.1	51.2	51.6	2.0	0.548	0.477	0.985
Body lipid day 21³, kg	46.2	44.8	49.4	2.0	0.856	0.465	0.246
Lipid mobilization⁴, g/d	−88.5	− 314.1^*	− 113.9	74.6	0.143	0.968	0.207
Lipid tissue mobilization⁵, g/d	−106.2	− 376.9^*	− 136.7	89.5	0.143	0.968	0.207
Sow BW day 1, kg	246	249	252	7	0.921	0.787	0.953
Sow BW day 21, kg	244	241	251	7	0.931	0.724	0.518
Calculated BW change⁶, kg	−1.6	−9.3	−0.6
Actual BW change, kg	−1.6	−8.3^*	−0.6	3.0	0.282	0.969	0.216

¹Data are least squares means
²Maximum value of the standard error of the means
³Body protein and lipid on day 1 and 21 were predicted based on sow body weight (BW) and backfat loss [13]
⁴Protein and lipid mobilization represent body protein and lipid loss without associated water, and the values were predicted based on sow body weight (BW) and backfat loss [13]
⁵Protein and lipid tissue mobilization represent body protein and lipid loss including the associated water as follows: 1 g of protein is associated with 4 g of water in 5 g of tissue and 1 g of fat is associated with 0.2 g of water in 1.2 g of tissue [16]
⁶Calculated BW change (g) = (protein tissue mobilization + lipid tissue mobilization) × lactation length (21 day)
^*BW change (P = 0.02) and lipid (tissue) mobilization (P < 0.01) differed from 0

ISSN: 2049-1891