Effects of Adding Fat to the Sow Lactation Diet on Lactation and Rebreeding Performance

One-hundred-three multiparous sows were randomly assigned to one of two lactation diets containing either no supplemental animal fat (C) or 10% added fat (F) during two seasons, summer (S) and winter (W), in a 2 X 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Sows were placed on their respective dietary treatments 1 wk prior to farrowing and were fed these diets ad libitum throughout the 28-d lactation period. Weekly feed intake and total feed intake were not affected by diet or season, while weekly metabolizable energy (ME) intake tended to be higher during wk 1 and 3, and was higher (P\u3c.04) during wk 2 for sows fed diet F. Sow weight loss from farrowing to 21 d of lactation and to weaning (28 d) were unaffected by diet or season. Average pig birth weight was .15 kg higher (P\u3c.O1) for pigs born during S compared with those born in W. Sows receiving diet F had heavier litters at 21 d (P\u3c.01) and heavier average pig 21-d weights (P\u3c.O1). This was primarily due to the 13.1% increase (P\u3c.04) in estimated milk yield and the higher fat concentration (P\u3c.O01) of milk consumed by the pigs nursing sows fed diet F. Interval between weaning and re-breeding was shortened by 5.9 d (P\u3c.01) for sows during W than during S, and tended to be lower for sows fed diet F (7.3 d) compared with that of sows fed diet C (9.7 d). Farrowing percentage was unaffected by diet but tended to be increased during W (78.9%) compared with S (65.1%). No differences between mason or diet were noted on number of pigs born or number of pigs born alive in the subsequent parity. No diet • season interactions were observed, except for crude protein concentration of sow\u27s milk, which was higher in milk from sows fed diet C during season W (P\u3c.04)