The Effects of Gestation Metabolize Energy Levels on Sow Productivity

Restricting the amount of energy a pregnant sow consumes during gestation has been accepted as a very desirable management practice. One benefit of limiting energy is increased litter size at birth because of more fertilized eggs being implanted, less early embryonic death loss and less stillbirths at parturition. Another benefit, particularly at a time of extremely high feed cots, is the economic advantage of less feed consumed during gestation when energy is restricted. At the present time the National Research Council (NRC) recommends 6340 Kcal of metabolize energy (ME) daily for the gestating sow. The study reported herein was conducted to evaluate sow reproductive performance when ME was reduced to an even lower level than recommended by the NRC