An experiment using a total of 210 crossbred pigs from two farrowing groups evaluated the effects of three weaning weights and their associative starter feeding program on subsequent postweaning performance to 105 kg BW. One group of pigs nursed their dams in outside heated hutches (Trial 1), and a second group was raised in a centrally heated farrowing house (Trial II). The three pig weaning weight groups ranged in weight from 1) 4.1 to 5.0 kg, 2) 5.5 to 6.8 kg, and 3) 7.3 to 8.6 kg. Pigs in Group 1 were fed a high nutrient dense diet (HNDD) for a 2-wk period followed by a corn-soybean meal-dried whey (C-SBM-DW) and then a corn-soybean meal (C-SBM) diet, each for a 2-wk period. Group 2 was fed the same diet sequence except that HNDD was provided for 1 wk, whereas Group 3 was provided only the C-SBM-DW and the C-SBM diets each for 2 wk, consecutively. At the end of the nursery period, pigs were fed C-SBM diet formulations to 105 kg BW. Pigs of Trial I averaged 5.2 d older at weaning than those raised in the central farrowing house, but only a 1.5-d difference existed between light- and heavy-weight groups in both trials. Gains and feed intakes for the three weaning groups were higher as weaning weight increased during both the nursery and the growing-finishing period. There did not seem to be a compensatory growth response for lighter-weight weanling pigs even though they had been fed starter diets containing milk products. Consequently, fewer days (approximately 15) were required for the heavier-weight weanling pig group to reach a final weight of 105 kg than for the light-weight group. The medium-weight group required an intermediate number of days to reach 105 kg.

A 2 x 3 factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design was conducted using a total of 180 weanling pigs in five replicates. The study evaluated the efficacy of two dietary vitamin E sources (D-alpha-tocopherol, DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) added at three dietary levels (16, 48, 96 IU/kg) during a 35-d postweaning trial. Pigs within each treatment were fed two similarly fortified vitamin E diets in sequence; the first contained 40% milk products and was fed to 14 d, and the second contained 20% milk product and 5% fat and was provided from 15 to 35 d postweaning. Five pigs per pen per replicate were bled weekly for serum analysis of alpha-tocopherol, Se, cholesterol, triglyceride, and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity. At the end of the trial, one pig per pen was randomly selected and killed with liver, loin, lung, and heart excised and frozen for tocopherol analysis. Postweaning gains, feed intakes, and efficiencies were similar between the two vitamin E sources and at the various dietary levels. Serum tocopherol concentrations were consistently higher when D-alpha-tocopherol was provided. Vitamin E sources and levels had no effect nor did they influence weekly serum Se, cholesterol, or triglyceride concentrations or GSH-Px activity. A serum and tissue interaction (P less than .05) response occurred between dietary vitamin E source x level with alpha-tocopherol concentrations increasing linearly (P less than .01) as dietary vitamin E level increased, but at a higher rate when D-alpha-tocopherol than when DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate as fed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Protein and nutrient composition of milk changes throughout lactation in dogs. These data can provide valuable information for use in establishing nutrient requirements of puppies during the suckling period.