PSII-17 - Effects of dietary S-Abscisic Acid (S-ABA) supplementation on the reproductive performances of sows

Abstract: Our previous study suggested that dietary S-ABA supplementation could improve the antioxidative status through increasing the glutathione content in the gut and enhancing the absorption of glucose in animals. We conducted two sow studies to examine the effects of dietary S-ABA on the reproductive performances of sows. In the Study 1, a total of 65 sows, parity 1 to 8, were employed. The sows were allotted to three treatments. The control (CON; n=21) was fed a commercial sow diet while the other two treatments received the diet supplemented with either 1 ppm (Low; n=22) or 10 ppm (High; n=22) S-ABA. The experimental diets were offered to the sows from the day of artificial insemination through the entire gestation and the 4-week lactation period. The number of piglets born (including stillborn piglets), the number of piglets born alive, the average birthweight of piglets, the number of piglets weaned per sow, and the average weaning weight of piglets was measured. The number of piglets born was significantly higher for LOW than CON (14.0 vs. 12.1, p< 0.05) while HIGH was in between. The average birthweight did not differ by treatments. The number of piglets weaned per sow was significantly higher for LOW and HIGH than CON (12.0 vs. 12.2 vs. 10.9, p< 0.05). The average weaning weight of piglets was significantly heavier for LOW and HIGH than CON (9.01 kg vs. 9.16 kg vs. 8.00 kg, p< 0.01). In the Study 2, a total of 30 sows, parity 1 to 7, were used. The sows were allotted to four dietary treatments. The control (CON; n=7) was fed a commercial sow diet. The other treatments were fed the control diet supplemented with either 0.1 ppm (LOW; n=8), 0.5 ppm (MID; n=7), or 1 ppm (HIGH; n=8) of S-ABA. The feeding program and the parameters measured were the same as the Study 1. The number of piglets born or the number of piglets born alive did not differ by treatments although HIGH had 1.7 more live piglets compared to CON (13.3 vs. 11.6, p>0.10). The average birthweight or the number of piglets weaned per sow was not different by treatments. The average weaning weight of piglets was significantly heavier for LOW than CON (7.55 kg vs. 6.42 kg, p< 0.05) while MID (7.39 kg) and HIGH (7.29 kg) was in between. Those results indicate that supplementing S-ABA in the sow diet might improve the number of piglets born alive without negatively affecting the piglet birthweight and could increase the weaning weight of piglets. However, further investigations are necessary to identify the optimal feeding rate of S-ABA because no clear dose-dependency was observed in those studies.