Scott L. Tilton
Austin J. Lewis
Phillip S. Miller
Paul M. Ermer
Summary and Implications
An experiment was conducted with thirty lactating sows to determine the effects of high fat lactation diets on the body composition of suckling pigs and sow backfat composition. Sows were provided a lactation diet containing either 0 or 10% tallow on an ad libitum basis for a 21-d lactation. No differences in feed intake during lactation were observed, although sows fed tallow consumed more metabolizable energy per day than did control sows. Composition of backfat samples taken at weaning from sows suggested an increase in the amount of fatty acid synthesis in adipose tissue of control sows. Sows fed tallow weaned heavier litters, however, body composition of these pigs indicated that this increased weight was almost exclusively fat. Additional research is required to determine the effects of this change in body composition in pigs at weaning on their subsequent performance and body composition.
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