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Survival Rate and Development of Fetuses during the First 30 Days of Gestation after Folic Acid Addition to a Swine Diet^1,2,

Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4

Abstract

At weaning, 162 sows were assigned randomly to six treatments (27 in each treatment) according to a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement: two levels of supplementary folic acid (0 and 5 mg/kg of diet) and three treatments to stimulate ovulation (none, flushing and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin [PMSG] injection). All sows were mated twice within 7 d after weaning. Of the 162 animals originally selected, 123 sows were pregnant and used in this trial. The flushing treatment consisted of allowing sows ad libitum access to feed from the day after weaning through the 1st day of behavioral estrus, whereas control animals received 2.4 kg of feed daily. The hormonal treatment consisted of one i.m. injection of 1,250 IU of PMSG the day after weaning. The commercial-type diet used as the control was computed to contain .6 mg Mates per kilogram. Folic acid supplementation elevated (P < .001) serum folates between weaning and 30 d of gestation. Fetuses of sows fed the diet supplemented with folic acid had a higher (P < .05) total protein concentration than fetuses of control sows, whereas RNA and DNA concentrations and protein:DNA ratio were not affected. The PMSG treatment elevated (P < .05) ovulation rate, whereas the flushing or folic acid treatments had no effect on this trait. The addition of 5 mg/kg folic acid to the commercial-type diet improved (P < .05) the survival rate of fetuses during early gestation and tended (P = .096) to increase the number of fetuses presumably living at 30 d of gestation when this treatment was associated with high ovulation rate. In PMSG-treated sows, the beneficial effect of folic acid supplementation on survival rate of fetuses, number of dead fetuses and litter size was pronounced, indicating that the efficacy of folic acid to reduce embryonic mortality is especially marked when ovulation rate is high.

¹ This research was made possible through grant No. G1243, Natl. Sci. and Eng. Res. Council of Canada (NSERC). The senior author is thankful for a postgraduate scholarship granted by NSERC. Publication fees were paid by the Conseil des Recherches et Services Agricoles du Québec (CRSAQ).

² The authors acknowledge the collaboration and assistance of P. Gagnon and B. Maltais of La Ferme Olympique Enr., St-Pierre de Broughton, Québec.

³ Present address: Exp. Farm, Agriculture Canada, Normandin, Québec, Canada G0W 2E0.

⁴ Res. Sta., Agriculture Canada, Lennoxville, Québec, Canada, J1M 1Z3.

⁵ Dept. de zootechnie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4.

⁶ Dept. de zootechnie and Centre de recherche en nutrition, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4.

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