Animal welfare: the farrowing period of sows in focus

Newsletter 01/2022

Newsletter:
agromed Austria GmbH

Released:
April 2022

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The "Concept of Five Freedoms" is now an internationally recognized evaluation criterion for animal welfare and describes, among other things, "freedom from pain, injury and disease" - i.e. the reduction of stress and pain are also relevant here.

 

Farrowing is an enormous stress factor for the sow and of course also associated with pain. In recent years, the number of piglets per litter has increased significantly and thus litter sizes of up to 20 piglets are almost standard in Austria or Germany. Large litters are in turn closely associated with a prolonged farrowing period, which increases stress for the sow and also, the proportion of stillborn piglets. It has also been proven that a prolonged farrowing period affects the fertility of the sows for the next cycle.

Supplementing sow diets with fibre 

Supplementing sow diets with fibre has the potential to positively intervene in this problem area, since on the one hand constipation is reduced, and in addition - if the fibre is fermentable - a supplementary energy supply is offered. The sow can cover an appreciable part of her maintenance energy requirement from the fermentation of fibre. This is significant because the energy from fermentation is provided for a period of 24 hours. For the sow, this supplemental energy means the reduction of hunger, stress, and most importantly, the constant provision of energy for the birthing process.

The eubiotic lignocellulose OptiCell®, as an insoluble and partially fermentable fibre source, effectively supports farrowing sows, whereby the reductions in farrowing duration has already been demonstrated in several trials. In the most recent trial in Austria, OptiCell® was supplemented to a standard gestation diet (65-75 g/d) throughout the gestation period, differentiating the groups into highly productive sows (Danish genetics) and standard genetics (ÖHyb; German Edelschwein x Landrace).

 


 

Results

As expected, the number of piglets born per litter was significantly higher in the Danish genetics than in the standard genetics. The addition of OptiCell® reduced farrowing duration in all sows, but the effect was greater in the Danish genetics and resulted here also in the significant increase in the proportion of piglets born alive.
OptiCell® feeding of pregnant sows is an efficient means of supporting the animals in terms of animal welfare, health and, at the same time, performance - the positive effects are particularly evident with the new, highly productive sow genetics.