Impact of synergistic blend of organic acids on the performance of late gestating sows and their offspring

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of in-feed additive synergistic blend of short and medium-chain organic acids (SGG) in sows during late gestation and lactation as well as litter performance. On day 107 of gestation, a total of 150 multiparous (Landrace × Yorkshire) sows were blocked according to parity (2.6) and allocated to one of three dietary treatments: CON–basal diet, SGG-Low–CON + 0.1% SGG and SGG-High–CON + 0.3% SGG. Sows supplemented with SGG-High consumed more lactation feed (p =.04) than sows fed the CON diet. The body weight (BW) and back fat (BF) loss during the lactation period were lower (p ≤.05) in sows fed SGG supplements. Additionally, sows fed with different levels of SGG-supplement reduced (p =.04) the number of mummified and birth coefficient of variation (p =.03) and improved (p ≤.05) the survivability of piglets. Also, piglets born to SGG group sows and fed a creep diet from days 5 to 21 of age, showed a tendency to increase (p =.07) BW on day 7, and significant improvements on days 14 (p =.02) and 21 (p