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

Table 5 Apparent utilization efficiency of nitrogen and energy 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 between day 4 and 8 of lactation (early lactation) and between day 14 and 18 of lactation (peak lactation)¹

Item	Diet			SEM²	P-value
Item	CON	OPT	OPTLEU	SEM²	OPT vs. CON	OPT LEU vs. CON	OPTLEU vs. OPT
Early lactation (day 4 to 8)
Number of sows	12	11	11
Nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency³
Milk N output/ME intake, g/MJ⁴	0.88	0.90	0.94	0.06	0.960	0.759	0.907
Milk N output/NE intake, g/MJ⁴	1.17	1.18	1.24	0.08	0.997	0.824	0.869
Energy utilization efficiency
Total energy retention, % of energy intake	55.1	53.3	50.8	1.6	0.703	0.163	0.537
Total energy retention, % of energy absorbed	62.6	61.5	59.6	1.6	0.847	0.298	0.606
Milk energy output, % of energy intake	49.5	55.2	54.6	3.7	0.529	0.599	0.993
Milk energy output, % of energy absorbed	56.2	63.4	63.6	4.4	0.461	0.442	0.999
Peak lactation (day 14 to 18)
Number of sows	11	11	11
Nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency³
Milk N output/ME intake, g/MJ⁴	0.86	1.05^*	0.93	0.06	0.088	0.660	0.384
Milk N output/NE intake, g/MJ⁴	1.14	1.38^*	1.23	0.09	0.115	0.730	0.394
Energy utilization efficiency
Total energy retention, % of intake	63.2^*	62.8^*	58.6^*	1.6	0.986	0.140	0.187
Total energy retention, % of absorbed	71.8^*	72.2^*	69.1^*	1.6	0.973	0.369	0.265
Milk energy output, % of energy intake	44.5	62.3	53.0	3.7	0.007	0.268	0.199
Milk energy output, % of energy absorbed	50.7	71.5	62.2	4.4	0.006	0.167	0.304

ISSN: 2049-1891