Effects of Supplementing Sow Diets with Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Refermented Sorghum Dried Distiller’S Grains with Solubles from Late Gestation to Weaning on the Performance of Sows and Progeny

Limited nutrient intake in combination with the increased demand for milk production required to support a large litter often leaves sows in a severe catabolic condition and reduces sow longevity for reproduction. Dietary supplementation with yeast culture (YC) in the gestation and lactation diets of sows has been shown to increase the performance of progeny. In the present study, a novel type of YC, Saccharomyces cerevisiae refermented SDDGS (SSDDGS), was developed, and the effects of supplementing sow diets with SSDDGS from late gestation to weaning on the performance of the sows and their progeny were studied. In Exp. 1, 24 sows at 85 d of gestation were allocated to the following 3 dietary treatments: 1) sows fed a basal diet from late gestation to weaning (n = 8), 2) sows fed a diet with 2% SSDDGS (n = 8), and 3) sows fed a diet with 4% SSDDGS (n = 8). The 4% SSDDGS treatment significantly improved the sows’ ADFI, the litter weaning alive rate, and the individual piglet weaning weights and significantly reduced the litter stillbirth rate and the levels of urea N and somatic cell counts (SCC) in the milk. However, the 2% SSDDGS treatment did not alter the performance of the sows or progeny. Therefore, we considered the volume of 4% SSDDGS to be more efficient than 2% SSDDGS. To verify the results of Exp. 1, we performed Exp. 2, in which 60 sows at 85 d of gestation were allocated into the following 2 dietary treatments: 1) sows fed a basal gestation diet from 85 d of gestation to weaning (n = 30) and 2) sows fed a basal diet with 4% SSDDGS from 85 d of gestation to weaning (n = 30). The 4% SSDDGS supplementation tended to increase the sows’ ADFI, litter weaning size, litter weight gain during lactation, and individual piglet weaning weight and weight gain during lactation, and it also increased the milk yield and the fat and DM contents of the milk. This treatment also decreased the levels of urea N and SCC in the milk. Therefore, the present study indicates that supplementing sow diets with 4% SSDDGS from late gestation to weaning has the potential to 1) increase sow ADFI, 2) promote progeny growth performance, 3) increase sow milk production and quality, and 4) improve the maternal health status as indicated by improved protein utilization and reduced potential inflammatory response.