Effect of dietary supplementation of oregano essential oils to sows on colostrum and milk composition, growth pattern and immune status of suckling pigs1

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of supplementing sow diets with oregano essential oils (OEO) during gestation and lactation on sow colostrum and milk composition and on the growth pattern and immune status of suckling pigs. A total of 70 second-parity sows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 gestation dietary treatments within 24 h after service: control (CON) or CON + 250 mg/kg of OEO (OREG). In lactation, sows were again assigned to either the CON or OREG dietary treatment. Thus, the lactation treatments were CON-CON, CON-OREG, OREG-CON, and OREG-OREG. Colostrum and blood samples were collected from 6 sows per lactation dietary treatment. Thymus lymphocyte (T lymphocyte) subpopulations (γδ, cluster of differentiation 8, and 32 cluster of differentiation 4) were enumerated in blood and mammary secretions along with IGF-1, IgG, and IgA concentrations. Piglet growth rate were determined from 18, 17, 17, and 18 litters from the CON-CON, CON-OREG, OREG-CON, and OREG-OREG lactation dietary treatments, respectively. Growth rates were determined in 630 piglets, and piglets were individually identified and weighed on 1, 5, 9, 12, 16, and 19 d of age. Oregano essential oil supplementation during gestation or lactation had no effect (P > 0.05) on GE, CP, GE:CP, GE:fat, and IGF-1 in sow milk. Reductions of the fat percentage in milk on d 7 (P < 0.05) and d 14 (P = 0.07) were found in sows supplemented with OEO during lactation compared with those in the CON treatment. Milk from sows supplemented with OEO during lactation had the greatest number of T lymphocytes compared with those in the lactation CON treatment on d 14 of lactation (P < 0.01). The number of T lymphocytes in milk was greater for sows in the CON-OREG treatment compared with those other treatments on d 14 of lactation (P < 0.05). Energy intake was greater on d 1 to 5 in piglets from sows fed OEO during gestation than those from sows in the CON treatment (P < 0.05). A trend (P = 0.10) for greater milk intake was observed in piglets from sows supplemented with OEO during gestation compared with those from sows in the CON treatment. Similarly, a tendency for an increase in ADG on d 1 to 5 was found in piglets from sows supplemented with OEO during gestation compared with those from sows in the CON treatment (P = 0.10). Insulin-like growth factor-1 at birth and on d 7 and 14 of lactation did not differ among piglets from sows assigned to the different dietary treatments. Oregano essential oil supplementation of sow diets did not affect (P > 0.05) immunoglobulin concentrations in piglets after suckling. Supplementing sow diets with OEO during gestation or lactation did not affect (P > 0.05) the T lymphocytes, percentage of T-lymphocyte subpopulations, and natural killer cell activity of piglets during lactation. Supplementing sow diets with 250 mg/kg of OEO during gestation and lactation did not affect the growth potential of and immune responses in suckling piglets.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of supplementing micro-encapsulated organic acids and essential oils in diets for sows and suckling piglets

“…Previous reports indicated that OA and EO supplements in pig diets had beneficial effects on growth performance (Cho et al 2006;Wang et al 2009;Grilli et al 2010;Gong et al 2014), nutrient digestibility (Yan et al 2010;Cho et al 2014) and both of them are appropriate antibiotic alternatives in swine diets (Rota et al 2004;Mroz 2005). Similar benefits generated by the inclusion of OA and EO to sows diets have been reported by other authors (Kis & Bilkei 2003;Allan & Bilkei 2005;Miller et al 2009;Kluge et al 2010;Ariza-Nieto et al 2011). Langhout (2000) suggested that a combination of OA and EO would be beneficial to work more in the later segments of the intestinal tract.…”

“…The incidence of diarrhoea among piglets reduced in suckler sows whose diet was supplemented with 0.10% MOE among treatments. Ariza-Nieto et al (2011) reported that dietary supplementation of EO to sows reduced the fat percentage in milk; increase the growth pattern of suckling pigs. The reason for enhanced growth performance traits by OA and EO may be transferred into suckling piglets through breast milk, which can improve piglet resistance to diarrhoea.…”

Índices produtivos de fêmeas suínas alimentadas com dietas de gestação e lactação suplementadas com óleos essenciais de orégano e alecrim: avaliação de leitegadas

“…Os resultados de desempenho dos leitões observados foram semelhantes aos reportados na literatura (ARIZA-NIETO et al, 2011). No entanto, esses autores observaram que os leitões, fi lhos de matrizes suplementadas com óleos essenciais no período de gestação, apresentaram maior ganho médio diário de peso, maior consumo de energia e maior consumo de leite nos dias 16 a 19 de lactação.…”

Evaluation of an on-farm method to assess colostrum IgG content in sows

“…Swine colostrum composition at farrowing contains 24% to 30% dry matter, 15% to 19% total proteins, 5% to 7% fat, 2% to 3% lactose and 0.63% ash (Klobasa et al, 1987;Csapo et al, 1996). Devillers et al (2004) reported that an average volume of 3.6 l (range from 1.9 to 5.3 l) of colostrum was produced by sow, and IgG concentration in colostrum has been measured to average around 50 mg/ml (Ariza-Nieto et al, 2011). Production of colostrum by cows on an average was 11.2 l, with a mean composition of fat 6.7%, total solids 27.6%, and total protein 14.9%, and contains 30 to 96 mg/ml of IgG (Morin et al, 2001;Kehoe et al, 2007).…”