Piglet preweaning mortality in a commercial swine herd in Thailand

Effect of Andrographis paniculata supplementation during the transition period on colostrum yield, immunoglobulin G, and postpartum complications in multiparous sows during tropical summer

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated the effect of Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) supplementation in sow diets before and after farrowing on the sow and piglets' performances during early postpartum period and on sows' backfat and longissimus muscle losses during lactation.

METHODS

Seventy Landrace×Yorkshire sows and their offspring (1,186 piglets) were distributed into three groups: control (n = 31), treatment-250 (n = 18), and treatment-1000 (n = 21). From 110.2±0.7 days of gestation until farrowing (5.8 days) and throughout the lactation period (25.2 days), sows in the control group were given the conventional lactation diet, while sows in the treatment-250 and treatment-1000 groups received supplements of 250 ppm and 1,000 ppm of A. paniculata, respectively.

RESULTS

In sows with parity 3-5, piglets from the treatment-1000 group had higher colostrum intake than the control and treatment-250 groups (p<0.05), but not in sows with parity 6-9. Colostrum immunoglobulin G (IgG) increased in treated sows versus controls for parity 6-9 (p<0.05), but was consistent for parity 3-5. Piglet performance until day 3 postnatal was similar across groups (p>0.05). Treatment-250 sows had higher feed intake post-farrowing than treatment-1000 sows (p<0.05). Longissimus loss was less in both treatment groups than control (p<0.05), but backfat loss was similar across groups (p>0.05). Post-partum complications were consistent across groups (p>0.05). Farrowing duration and piglet birth intervals in sows with parity 6-9 were prolonged in the treatment-1000 group.

CONCLUSION

Supplementing with 1,000 ppm A. paniculata for 5.8 days pre-farrowing and 25.2 days post-farrowing enhanced sow colostrum IgG and piglet colostrum intake, while also reducing longissimus loss in sows. However, for sows of parity 6-9, this supplementation led to prolonged farrowing, increased intervals between piglet births, increased stillbirth, and reduced piglet birth weight. These effects should be considered when using A. paniculata supplementation.

Five risk factors and their interactions of probability for a sow in breeding herds having a piglet death during days 0-1, 2-8 and 9-28 days of lactation

Background

Increasing preweaning piglet mortality is a concern for veterinarians and producers in relation to sow performance and piglet welfare. Our objectives were (1) to characterize pre-weaning piglet mortality risk for sows (PWM) during early (0–1 days), mid- (2–8 days) and late (9–28 days) lactation and (2) to quantify the following five factors and their interactions, parity, number of piglets born alive (PBA), number of stillborn piglets (SB), gestation length (GL) and season for PWM during the three lactation phases.

Methods

Data obtained from 264,333 parity records of 55,635 sows farrowed in 2015 and 2016 from 74 Spanish herds. Three multi-level mixed-effects logistic regression models were separately applied for PWM during three lactation phases, which was analyzed as whether or not a sow had a piglet death (i.e. probability of a sow having a piglet death) in each phase.

Results

PWM during early, mid- and late lactation were 36.9, 27.0 and 15.4%, respectively. As PBA increased from 11 or less to 16 or more pigs, PWM during early and mid-lactation increased by 15.8 and 6.0%, respectively, but there was no increase during late lactation. Also, as GL decreased from 117–120 to 110–113 days, PWM during early, mid- and late lactation increased by 7.5, 6.8 and 1.5%, respectively. Additionally, PWM during the respective lactation phases increased by 8.3, 5.2 and 1.0%, as SB increased from 0 to 3 or more pigs. During early lactation, parity 1 sows had 2.1% lower PWM than parity 5 or higher sows, but during mid- and late lactation they had 4.2% higher PWM (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference between summer and winter for PWM during early lactation (P = 0.26).

Conclusion

Management practices to reduce PWM need to take account of these factors, and be modified for different phases. For example, during early lactation special care should be given to piglets born to parity 5 or higher sows farrowing 16 or more PBA, having 3 or more SB or GL 110–113 days, whereas during mid- and late lactation more care should be given to piglets born to parity 1 sows with the same PBA, GL and SB conditions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40813-021-00231-0.

O-GlcNAc / Akt pathway regulates glucose metabolism and reduces apoptosis in liver of piglets with acute cold stress

Cold stress is one of the serious factors restricting the development of animal husbandry in cold areas. Cold exposure can easily lead to cold stress, slow growth and even death of newborn animals. O-GlcNAcylation modification can act as type of "stress receptor" and"nutrition sensor" in a variety of stress responses, however, it is not clear how O-GlcNAcylation can regulate glucose metabolism in the liver of piglets under cold stress. In this study, piglets 21 days of age were exposed to 4 °C for 4 h or 8 h in a phytotron. Serum cortisol and other stress hormones were used to assess body status to establish a cold stress piglet model. The changes of glycogen in liver were detected by PAS. FDP and PA were also measured to study the glycolysis level of liver. To characterize potential mechanisms of O-GlcNAcylation on the livers of cold stress piglets, AKT, GSK3β, GS, PFKFB2, AS160 and their corresponding phosphorylation were determined by Western blotting. Results show O-GlcNAcylation increased and apoptosis levels increased in the liver following cold exposure during excessive CORT or metabolic dysfunction. It is suggested that the acute cold exposure of piglets induced a sequential change in the level of O-GlcNAcylation, which may be one of the factors mediating liver cell apoptosis and glucose metabolism regulation by the O-GlcNAc/AKT pathway. These findings provide new insight into the mechanisms of the cold stress response, which can facilitate the development of new strategies to combat the effects of hypothermia.

Physiological and metabolic responses in newborn piglets associated with the birth order

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of birth order on the physiological and metabolic responses of the newborn piglet the first hours after birth. A total of 281 randomly selected newborn piglets were included, classified according to birth order in 12 groups (L1-L12). The expulsion interval, neonatal vitality, latency in connecting to the maternal teat and physiological profile were recorded for each piglet. The number of piglets born alive and dead was also recorded. The blood gases, electrolytes and glucose levels of the neonates were obtained by means of an automatic blood gas and electrolyte analyzer. Groups L1, L2, L11, and L12 had the least score on the vitality scale, the longest expulsion intervals, and longest latency to connect with the maternal teat, as well as greater physiological alterations (hyperglycemia, hyperlactatemia and hypercapnia) compared to groups L4 to L9. Likewise, type-II stillbirths only occurred in the first and last quarter of the birth order of the litter. In conclusion, piglets born in the first and last quarter of the birth order of the litter had a greater risk of having physiological and behavioral alterations during farrowing.

l-arginine supplementation in sow diet during late gestation decrease stillborn piglet, increase piglet birth weight and increase immunoglobulin G concentration in colostrum

The fetal growth is rapid during the last trimester of gestation in sows and hence sow nutrition during this period is important for fetal growth and development. During the last decade, studies reported that l-arginine HCl supplementation during gestation increased sow and piglet performances. However, clinical studies concerning the association between l-arginine HCL supplementation and some neonatal piglet characteristics as well as colostrum and milk yield of sow are still lacking. The present study aims to determine the effect of l-arginine HCl supplementation in sow diet during late gestation on piglet characteristics at birth, colostrum consumption (CC), concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in colostrum, milk yield, average daily gain at d 7 and 21 and piglet mortality at d 7 and 21 of life. In total, 166 sows were allocated into four groups, i.e., CON (n = 66), ARG-0.5 (n = 42), ARG-1.0 (n = 41) and ALA (n = 17). The sows in each group were fed with a conventional gestation diet (CON) or the same diet supplemented with 0.5% l-arginine HCl (ARG-0.5), 1.0% l-arginine HCl (ARG-1.0) or 1.7% l-alanine (ALA, isonitrogenous with ARG-1.0). The feeding protocol was carried out from 85 days of gestation until farrowing. The proportion of live-born piglets, piglet birth weight (BW_B), within-litter variation of BW_B, proportion of piglets with BW_B above 1.35 kg, proportion of growth-restricted piglets (defined as BW_B below 1.0 kg), blood oxygen saturation (SatO₂) and heart rate were determined in 2292 newborn piglets from 166 litters. Colostrum consumption of each individual piglets and the colostral concentration of IgG was determined. The milk yield between d 0-7 and 7-21 and relative backfat loss were estimated in each individual sow. The piglet mortality and body weight was determined at d 7 and 21 of life. On average, the number of piglet born alive per litter was 12.4. The proportion of stillborn piglets, piglets with BW_B above 1.35 kg and growth-restricted piglets were 6.9%, 62.7% and 14.0%, respectively. Piglet preweaning mortality at d 7 and 21 were 8.5% and 12.4%, respectively. Compared to the ALA group, ARG-0.5 increased the proportion of live-born piglets per litter (+9.8%, P < 0.001), reduced stillborn (-8.3%, P < 0.001) and tended to increase the proportion of piglets with BW_B above 1.35 kg (+6.4%, P = 0.08). Compared to the CON group, ARG-0.5 increased BW_B (+7.0%, P < 0.001), increased SatO₂ (+3%, P < 0.001) and reduced heart rate (-20%, P < 0.001) and tended to reduce the relative backfat loss (-4.4%, P = 0.06). No difference between ARG-1.0 and ARG-0.5 was observed among these traits. Other traits including within-litter variation of BW_B, growth-restricted piglets, average daily gain, piglets preweaning mortality and CC and milk yield were not affected by treatment (P > 0.05). The colostral concentration of IgG at 1 h after onset of farrowing in ARG-1.0 sows (116 mg/ml) was higher than CON, ARG-0.5 and ALA sows (85, 74 and 78 mg/ml, respectively; P < 0.05). In conclusions, dietary l-arginine HCl supplementation in late gestating sows favourably increased proportion of live-born piglets, BW_B, SatO₂ and IgG concentration in the sow colostrum.

Influences of climatic parameters on piglet preweaning mortality in Thailand

The objective of the present study was to determine the influences of temperature, humidity, and temperature-humidity index (THI) on piglet preweaning mortality in a conventional open-housing system commercial swine herd in Thailand. The analyzed data included 11,157 litters from 3574 Landrace × Yorkshire crossbred sows. The daily temperature, humidity, and THI data were collected from a meteorological station near the herd. The associations between temperature, humidity, and THI for periods before and after farrowings and piglet preweaning mortality were analyzed. Piglet preweaning mortality (log transformation) and the proportion of litters with piglet preweaning mortality greater than 20% were analyzed by using general linear mixed models and generalized linear mixed models (GLIMMIX), respectively. On average, the piglet preweaning mortality and the proportion of litters with piglet preweaning mortality greater than 20% were 14.5% (14.2 to 14.8% CI) and 26.4% (25.5 to 27.2% CI), respectively. Piglet preweaning mortality was positively correlated with the mean temperature (r = 0.028, P = 0.003), humidity (r = 0.038, P < 0.001), and THI (r = 0.036, P < 0.001) during 0-7 days postpartum. In primiparous sows, piglet preweaning mortality increased from 12.1 to 18.5% (+ 6.4%, P < 0.001) when the mean temperature during 0-7 days postpartum increased from < 25.0 to ≥ 29 °C. However, the influence of the temperature during 0-7 days postpartum was insignificant in multiparous sows (P = 0.569, P = 0.593, and P = 0.539 in sows parity numbers 2, 3-5, and 6-9, respectively). Likewise, piglet preweaning mortality increased from 10.7 to 16.7% (+ 6.0%, P = 0.012) when humidity during 0-7 days postpartum increased from < 60 to ≥ 80% in primiparous sows but it was insignificant in sows parity numbers 3-5 (P = 0.095) and 6-9 (P = 0.219). Moreover, the proportion of the litters with piglet preweaning mortality greater than 20% in primiparous sows increased from 18.3 to 32.4% (+ 14.1%, P = 0.017) when the THI during 0-7 days postpartum increased from < 73 to ≥ 81. In conclusion, the negative influences of temperature, humidity, and THI on piglet preweaning mortality were more evident in primiparous than multiparous sows. These findings implied that strategies to reduce temperature for postpartum sows in the open-housing system in Thailand are inadequate, and the proper management of postpartum primiparous sows should be emphasized.

Newborn traits associated with pre-weaning growth and survival in piglets

Objective

Piglet pre-weaning mortality is an important variable indicating the efficacy of farrowing management and animal well-being during lactation. The present study determined the association of newborn traits measured soon after birth with piglet pre-weaning mortality and growth.

Methods

In total, 805 piglets born from 57 multiparous sows were investigated. Their blood oxygen saturation, blood glucose and rectal temperature at 24 h after birth (RT24h) were monitored. Birth order, sex, skin color, integrity of the umbilical cord, attempts to stand and birth intervention were monitored. Piglets were weighed at day 0, 7, and 21 to evaluate average daily gain (ADG).

Results

Piglet pre-weaning mortality for lactation period was 12.6% and cumulative mortality during the first 7 days of age was 8.6%. A higher proportion of piglets with pale skin color died compared to piglets with normal skin color (26.7% vs 7.7%, p<0.001). A higher (p<0.001) proportion of piglets that attempted to stand after 5 min (38.5%) died compared to piglets that attempted to stand within 1 min (6.3%) after birth. Piglet body weight at birth (BW_B), blood glucose and the number of piglets born alive (BA) were correlated with ADG (p<0.05). Piglets with BW_B <1.30 kg had higher (p<0.001) mortality rate than piglets with BW_B≥1.80 kg (19.0% vs 3.3%) and piglets with BW_B 1.30 to 1.79 kg (4.0%). Piglet with RT24h <37.0°C had higher (p<0.001) mortality rate (86.2%) than piglets with RT24h >38.5°C (3.9%).

Conclusion

Low BW_B and low RT24h compromise piglet survival during the lactation period in the tropical conditions. Piglets in the litters with a high BA, low BW_B and low blood glucose have reduced ADG.