Effect of Essential Oil Supplementation to Lactation Diets on Reproductive Performance and Fecal Characteristics of Sows.

To test the effect of essential oil supplementation in lactation diets on reproductive performance and fecal characteristics in sows, 28 gilts were assigned to one of 2 treatments (with or without essential oil at 10ml/d as a top dress; Absorbezz) balanced for body weight and parity. All gilts received a common lactation diet with top dress beginning on d110. Fecal samples were collected on day 110 of gestation and d5, 10, and 15 of lactation. Data were analyzed as a completely random design with sow as the experimental unit and oil treatment as the main effect. Sows fed supplemented diets had a tendency for greater moisture content on day 5 (P=0.091). Control sows had greater feed intake in wk 3 of lactation (7.5 vs 7.0 ± 0.1; P=0.036). Differences in birth weight and litter size were not observed. Piglets from control sows tended to have greater average daily gain at the end of wk 2 (P=0.081) and greater weaning weights (P=0.054). Overall, piglets from control sows had greater daily gains than those from supplemented sows (P=0.027). Supplemented piglets weaned remained unchanged from birth; however, control sows weaned 1.2 less piglets than were born alive. In conclusion, support was shown for an increase in peripartal fecal consistency/moisture in sows given oil-supplementation. No support was shown for an increase in piglet growth throughout suckling in oil-supplemented sows. The potential for an impact on overall wean rates with oil-supplementation warrants further investigation.

Variable	Control	Absorbezz	P-value
Birth weight, kg	1.4	1.4	0.898
Wean weight, kg	6.1	5.6	0.054
Daily gain, g/d
Wk 1	0.216	0.126	0.019
Wk 2	0.257	0.230	0.081
Wk 3	0.230	0.220	0.393
Overall	0.324	0.203	0.027
Piglets Born Alive, n	13.1	12.3	0.545
Piglets Weaned, n	11.9	12.3	0.433
Fecal Moisture, %
d110	62.1	64.6	0.125
d5	67.0	69.4	0.091
d10	72.2	72.2	0.998
d15	73.9	73.8	0.950