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Relationships of Weight Gain and Behavior to Digestive Organ Weight and Enzyme Activities in Piglets¹

Agriculture Canada, Lennoxville, Quebec, J1M 1Z3 and Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada J1K 2R1

Abstract

Organ weights and digestive enzyme contents of the pancreas, stomach and duodenum were measured in 75 nursing piglets at 21 d of age. Piglets were given creep feed from 10 d of age. Creep feed intake was less than 1.5 g·d^–1·piglet^–1 up to d 18; on d 19 and 20 it averaged 15 g·d^–1·piglet^–1. On d 10, piglets went to the feeder more frequently than on the following days. Feeding bouts were longer on d 16, 17 and 18 just prior to the increase in creep feed consumption. Means and SE for the parameters studied at 21 d of age were 7.01 ± .18 mg for pancreas weight; 61,499 ± 4,091 units of amylase (UA) and 1,510 ± 110 UA/mg DNA; 2,962 ± 189 units of chymotrypsin (UC) and 68.94 ± 3.92 UC/mg DNA; 8.76 ± .35 g for fundic mucosa weight; 558,875 ± 49,287 units of pepsin (UP) and 12,338 ± 1,175 UP/mg DNA; 1.75 ± .06 g for duodenum weight; 1.39 ± .07 units of maltase (UM) and .14 ± .006 UM/mg DNA. Day-0 weight was not correlated with 21-d gain. Feeding behaviors were correlated positively with 21-d gains. Feeding behaviors and 21-d gain were correlated positively to pancreas total and specific enzyme contents as well as to stomach and duodenum weights, RNA/DNA ratios of the pancreas and the stomach and protein/DNA of the pancreas but were correlated negatively with specific and total pepsin and maltase activities. Variation was large in enzyme activities (cv = 35 to 82%). Total weight gain explained a significant and large proportion of the variation in amylase (34%) and chymotrypsin (35%) activities, but none for pepsin and only 5% of maltase specific activity. Feeding behaviors explained a significant part of the variation of pepsin (21%) and maltase (20%) activities. Results suggest that heavier piglets at 21 d of age have a more developed gastrointestinal tract than do smaller piglets.

¹ The authors acknowledge the assistance of Louise Thibault, Lisette St-James, Marcel Morissette, Michelle Guillette, Micheline Vanier, Richard Lanctot for technical support, André Belleau for computing the statistical analyses and Louise Boisvert for manuscript preparation. We thank Michèle Bernier-Cardou for her statistical advice. Lennoxville contribution no. 263.

² Lennoxville Res. Sta., Agriculture Canada.

³ Address reprint requests to this author.

⁴ Centre de recherche sur les mécanismes de sécrétion, Sherbrooke Univ.

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