Effect of average litter weight in pigs on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of the offspring as depending on birth weight

Pardo, Camilo; Kreuzer, Michael; Bee, Giuseppe

doi:10.1017/s1751731113001419

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The better FCR indicates that the greater ADG of heavy piglets was not achieved only because of their greater physical capacity to consume more feed. Pardo et al (2013) confirmed the relationship between growth rate and weaning weight depending on birth weight, and showed that lighter pigs took more days than the heavier pigs to reach market weight.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Energy utilization of light and heavy weaned piglets subjected to different dietary energy levels

et al. 2016

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-This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary metabolisable energy (ME: 3.25, 3.40, 3.55, or 3.70 Mcal kg −1 ) and weaning weight (WW: light 4.0±0.7 kg, and heavy: 6.3±0.6 kg) on productive response and energy utilization of weaned piglets. Sixty-four male piglets were housed in 32 metabolic cages (two animals per cage) during the first 14 d postweaning. At day 15, only one animal per cage was kept until day 28. Body composition, energy, and nutrient deposition rates and energy utilization efficiency were measured through a comparative slaughter procedure. Piglets with light WW had a poorer feed conversion ratio and lower weight gain and feed intake when expressed per live weight. Increased ME led to greater daily fat deposition in the empty bodies (defined as weighted mean of the carcass + organs + blood, no intestinal content), while light WW piglets had a reduced protein deposition. Light WW piglets increased heat production with increased ME, but no effect was seen for the heavy WW piglets. By contrast, heavy WW piglets increased empty body gross energy as ME increased, while no influence was observed on light WW piglets. Increasing dietary energy levels did not contribute to the subsequent growth performance of piglets that were lighter at weaning. The lack of interaction between weaning weight and dietary ME content on growth performance does not support the hypothesis that light piglets at weaning do not exhibit compensatory growth because of limitations in energy intake.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Energy utilization of light and heavy weaned piglets subjected to different dietary energy levels

et al. 2016

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“…The higher litter size observed here might result from differences in the genetic background of parent animals used and more generally from intensive breeding for increased ovulation rates and uterine capacity resulting in high litter size 37,38 . Negative effects of selection for larger litter sizes were stressed by various authors 5,14,39,40 , and include a general decrease in birth weight and an increased number of lightweight born piglets 7 . The mean birth weight observed in the present study showed a negative correlation (71%) to litter size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low birth weight influences the postnatal abundance and characteristics of satellite cell subpopulations in pigs

Stange

Miersch

Sponder

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Low birth weight (LBW) can cause lifelong impairments in muscle development and growth. Satellite cells (SC) and their progeny are crucial contributors to myogenic processes. This study provides new data on LBW in piglets combining insights on energy metabolism, muscle capillarization and differences in SC presence and function. To this aim, muscle tissues as well as isolated myogenic cells of 4-day-old German Landrace piglets were analyzed. For the first time two heterogeneous SC subpopulations, which contribute differently to muscle development, were isolated from LBW pigs by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. The muscles of LBW piglets showed a reduced DNA, RNA, and protein content as well as lower activity of the muscle specific enzymes CK, ICDH, and LDH compared to their normal birth weight siblings. We assume that deficits in energy metabolism and capillarization are associated with reduced bioavailability of SC, possibly leading to early exhaustion of the SC reserve cell pool and the cells' premature differentiation. The pig remains one of the most important farm animals worldwide and nowadays also represents a highly appreciated model system for scientific studies. In the past decades pigs were mainly selected for economic traits like reproductive fitness, growth performance, or litter size. An analysis of wild boar litters in Europe showed a mean litter size between 4.75-6.28 piglets 1. In contrast, in domestic pigs a mean litter size of 10.9 piglets in 1992 was further increased by 12% to 12.2 piglets already in 2001 2. Varona and colleagues even reported a mean litter size of 14.23 piglets in Landrace pigs 3. In polytocous species uterus capacity is a limiting factor, becoming important from day 25 of gestation on 4,5 , and more than 14 embryos can be considered as intrauterine crowding 5 possibly leading to intrauterine competition and retardation of prenatal growth 5,6. Bigger litter sizes can lead to intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) due to insufficient development of the placenta in relation to the number of embryos, which are not sufficiently supplied with oxygen and nutrients 5. Consequently, birth weight variation (and with this also weaning weight variability) increases in large litters; and with increasing litter birth weight more low birth weight (LBW) piglets are born 2,7,8. Several important factors like birth weight, weaning weight, and gender contribute to postnatal growth performance of pigs 9 , whereas the birth weight is the earliest and most easily accessible one. Up to 15-20% of pigs exhibit a low birth weight 10 associated with developmental disadvantages compared to their normal birth weight (NBW) litter mates. Low birth weight, for instance caused by IUGR, is also relevant for other species like sheep or cattle 10,11 and for humans, where for example in the U.S. approximately 5-15% of all children have to cope with IUGR 11-13. Some LBW pigs show compensatory growth but exhibit a higher risk for infection diseases and in general their survival rate is still reduced 9,14,...

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“…After the carcass dissection was completed, and following the protocol described by Pardo et al [12], the longissimus thoracis muscle (LT) at the 10th rib level was removed for the determination of ultimate pH, meat color (L*, a, b* values), water holding capacity as a percentage drip after 24 h, and cooking and thaw loss and shear force. Briefly, five 2.5 cm chops weighing on average 80 g each were used.…”

Section: Meat Quality Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Supplementing Hydrolysable Tannins to a Grower–Finisher Diet Containing Divergent PUFA Levels on Growth Performance, Boar Taint Levels in Back Fat and Intestinal Microbiota of Entire Males

Tretola

Maghin

Silacci

et al. 2019

Animals

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A retrospective data analysis suggested that the levels of boar taint compounds depend on the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) level of the adipose tissue (AT) being significantly greater in the unsaturated AT. In addition, we recently reported that hydrolysable tannins (HTs) offered to entire males (EMs) reduce skatole and, to a greater extent, indole levels in the AT. Thus, the objective of the study was to determine the impact of HTs and a high dietary level of PUFA on growth performance and board taint compounds in EMs. In addition, the interaction between PUFA and HTs on gut microbiota and its link to intestinal skatole and indole production was investigated. At 25 kg BW, 44 EM originating from 11 litters were randomly assigned within litter to four dietary treatments. Two basal grower (25–60 kg BW) and finisher (60–105 kg BW) diets containing either 2% soy oil (H = high PUFA level) or 2% tallow (L = low PUFA level) were formulated. The H and L diets were either supplemented (H+/L+) or not (H−/L−) with 3% chestnut extract containing 50% HTs. The pigs had ad libitum access to the diets and were slaughtered at 170 days of age. The microbiota composition was investigated through the 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained by next-generation sequencing (Illumia MiSeq platform, San Diego, CA, USA) and analyzed with a specific packages in R, version 3.5.0. Regardless of the PUFA content, the EMs fed the H+ diets were 2% (p < 0.01) less feed efficient overall. This was due to the slower (p = 0.01) growth in the finisher period despite similar feed intake. Carcass characteristics were not affected by the diets. Regardless of HT feeding, the PUFA level in the AT of the H pigs was 10% greater (p = 0.05) than in the L pigs. The indole level tended (p = 0.08) to be 50% lower in the H+ group. Surprisingly, the pigs that were fed diet H− had greater skatole levels than those fed diet L−, with intermediate skatole levels in the H+ and L+. Independent of the PUFA level, the HTs decreased bacteria abundance and qualitatively affected the microbiota composition. In conclusion, these data do not confirm that boar taint compound levels were related to PUFA levels in the AT. However, HTs can be considered to be a promising alternative to conventional antibacterial additives, with no detrimental effects on pig gut health and with appealing properties for reducing the synthesis of the main components of boar taint.

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Effect of average litter weight in pigs on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of the offspring as depending on birth weight

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

Energy utilization of light and heavy weaned piglets subjected to different dietary energy levels

Energy utilization of light and heavy weaned piglets subjected to different dietary energy levels

Low birth weight influences the postnatal abundance and characteristics of satellite cell subpopulations in pigs

Effect of Supplementing Hydrolysable Tannins to a Grower–Finisher Diet Containing Divergent PUFA Levels on Growth Performance, Boar Taint Levels in Back Fat and Intestinal Microbiota of Entire Males

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