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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jas.2007-0153v1 86/2/333    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Lindemann, M. D. Articles by Harper, A. F. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lindemann, M. D. Articles by Harper, A. F.

A regional evaluation of injections of high levels of vitamin A on reproductive performance of sows^1,2

M. D. Lindemann^*,,3, J. H. Brendemuhl^*,, L. I. Chiba^*,, C. S. Darroch^*,#, C. R. Dove^*,||, M. J. Estienne^*,¶ and A. F. Harper^*,¶

^* S-145 Regional Research Committee on Nutrition and Management of Swine for Increased Reproduction Efficiency; and Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40546; and Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611; and Department of Animal Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849; and ^# Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tennessee, Martin 38238; and ^|| Department of Animal Science, University of Georgia, Tifton 30602; and and ^¶ Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 24061

³ Corresponding author: mdlind1{at}uky.edu

A regional study involving 443 litters from 182 sows was conducted at 5 cooperating experiment stations to determine the effects of an i.m. injection of vitamin A at weaning and breeding on subsequent litter size of sows. Sows were assigned to 1 of 3 treatments given at weaning and again at breeding: 1) a placebo i.m. injection (2 mL of corn oil), 2) i.m. injection with 250,000 IU of vitamin A (1 mL of vitamin A palmitate in oil), and 3) i.m. injection with 500,000 IU of vitamin A (2 mL of vitamin A palmitate in oil). Corn-soybean meal diets in gestation were formulated to contain 13% CP and 0.60% total Lys. Lactation diets were formulated to contain 17% CP and 0.90% Lys. A common vitamin-mineral premix that supplied 11,000 IU of vitamin A/kg of diet (as-fed) was used by all stations. As expected, station effects were noted for many response measures. Analysis of the data also revealed both treatment x station and treatment x parity interactions for litter size responses. The treatment x parity interactions were stronger than the treatment x station effects, and when the litter size response was separated into early parity sows (parity 1 and 2) and late-parity sows (parity 3 to 6), the treatment x station interactions were no longer present in either subgroup. For sows of parity 1 and 2, litter sizes were increased linearly (P 0.003) for treatment 1 to 3, respectively, for the total (10.15, 12.14, and 13.18), live born (9.70, 11.14, and 12.16), and weaned (8.92, 10.12, and 10.60) piglets. For sows of parity 3 to 6, litter sizes were not affected for treatment 1 to 3, respectively, for the total (11.82, 11.71, and 11.46), live born (10.82, 10.64, and 10.23), and weaned (8.65, 9.01, 8.79) piglets. Piglet BW were affected (P < 0.001) by station and were associated with station differences (P < 0.05) in lactation length. Piglet BW decreased due to vitamin A treatment in parity 1 and 2 sows (linear, P 0.026) and was likely due to the differences observed in litter size. The results of this regional project demonstrated that injection of high doses of vitamin A in young sows at weaning and breeding improves the subsequent number of pigs born and weaned per litter, indicating that vitamin A requirements for maximal performance may vary with age.

Key Words: injection • litter size • reproductive performance • sow • vitamin A