Fig. 2

Characteristics of sows and piglets when supplemented with different amounts of cysteamine (CS). A, B Stillbirth and invalid piglet rates were analyzed using the Chi-square test; C Placental efficiency = piglet weight (g)/placental weight (g); D Piglet birth weight, with the number of sows being 21, 20, 19 and 19 in CON, CS100, CS300 and CS500, respectively (a-d); E, F Piglet birth weight and low birth weight (LBW, < 1.0 kg) in low yield sows (i.e., the number of piglets born alive is less than 15), with the number of sows being 11, 6, 8 and 9 in CON, CS100, CS300 and CS500, respectively (e-f); G, H Piglet birth weight and normal birth weight (NBW) in high yield sows (i.e., the number of piglets born alive is more than 15), with the number of sows being 10, 14, 11 and 10 in CON, CS100, CS300 and CS500, respectively (g-h); CON, basal diet group; CS100/300/500, basal diet supplemented with 100, 300, or 500 mg/kg of CS; Except for rates of stillbirth, invalid piglets, and LBW piglets, all values are expressed as means ± SEM. Linear (L) and quadratic (Q) effects of inclusion amounts of CS were contrasted. Different lowercase letters represent significant difference at P < 0.05