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Blood and Tissue Traits in Pigs at Birth and at 3 Weeks from Gilts Fed Low or High Energy Diets during Gestation

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850

Abstract

The offspring of eight gilts fed 2.2 Mcal (L) and 8.0 Mcal (H) of digestible energy per day during gestation were used to analyze some blood and tissue parameters at several stages of development. Average pig weight at birth of the L-dams (0.76 kg) was 70% of the average birth weight of the offspring (1.10 kg) from H-dams. The extent of reduction of body weight at birth in the offspring of energy restricted dams was different from the extent to which specific organs were affected (especially brain, adrenals and thyroid). Tissue determinations at birth in a sample of the progeny of L-fed dams indicated reduced levels of total DNA in gastronemius muscle (P<.05), reduced muscular fat (P<.05), liver glycogen (P<.05) and blood serum protein (P<.01). These results suggest that nutritional energy deficit during gestation might involve a reduction in all major nutritional elements (fat, glucose, protein) for the fetus. The reduction in number of muscle fibers at birth in offspring from restricted dams also indicates the possibility of a permanent effect in hyperplastic growth of skeletal muscles.

¹ Present address: CIAT, Apartado Aereo 67-13 Cali, Colombia.

² Department of Animal Science.

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