December 2024 26 Pork News & Views Better Pork | December 2024 OMAFA Welcomes New Feed Ingredient and By-products Specialist Youngji Rho completed her MSc at the University of Guelph under the guidance of Drs. Kees de Lange and Elijah Kiarie, focusing on enhancing the nutritive value of corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) for growing pigs through liquid feed systems and fiber-degrading enzymes. She continued her academic journey by earning her PhD in 2021 at the University of Guelph, where her research involved in vitro, in vivo-in vitro, and in vivo experiments to investigate the physicochemical properties of fiber in co-products such as DDGS and wheat shorts, as well as the effects of supplementing enzymes and different fermentation conditions, again working with Dr. Kiarie. Upon completing her PhD, Youngji joined Grand Valley Fortifiers as a monogastric nutritionist, focusing on swine nutrition. In this role, she engaged in various activities, including visiting farms, formulating rations, troubleshooting on-site issues, developing new products, conducting research, and delivering presentations. As of October 2024, she has transitioned to a new role as a Feed Ingredient and By-products Specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA). Youngji is very excited about her new role as a Feed Ingredient and By-products Specialist at OMAFA. If you’d like to contact her, you can email her at Youngji.rho@ontario.ca. Blending Gestation and Lactation Diets can Reduce Energy Mobilization During the Transition Period of Sows The transition period of sows, a week before and after farrowing, has unique nutritional requirements for fetal growth, mammary development and milk production. The week before farrowing, a sow’s energy requirements can increase by over 200%, while lysine (amino acid) requirements can increase by over 300%. The traditional method of feeding strictly a gestation diet until sows are moved to the farrowing room, may not meet the energy and amino acid requirements for this critical stage. If these requirements aren’t satisfied, a sow will use maternal tissue stores to meet the increased lysine and energy demand. Using these energy stores can negatively affect the sow’s ability to support fetal growth, milk production, and subsequent reproduction. This is exactly why N. Gregory and colleagues in the Huber lab at the University of Guelph investigated an alternative nutrition plan during this critical transition period. The purpose of this study was to investigate if providing a blend of gestation and lactation diets, to better meet estimated daily lysine (amino acid) and energy requirements during the transition period, would have any effect on the mobilization of maternal energy stores, lactation performance and subsequent litter performance. One hundred six primiparous and multiparous sows were enrolled in the trial at approximately one week prior to farrowing and remained part the study until weaning. The sows were randomly assigned one of two treatments groups: Control, where sows were fed 2 kg of a lactation diet until farrowing, or Transition, where a unique daily blend of gestation and lactation diets was fed until four days after farrowing. After farrowing, the daily quantity of feed was increased in a “step-up” manner until four days of lactation where the lactation diet was provide to all sows ad libitum. After farrowing, litters were standardized to 13 piglets within treatments. Piglets were not offered creep feed so weight gain would directly reflect sow milk production. Piglet weights were taken at birth, on the first day of lactation, and at weaning. For the sows, body weight was taken at 104 and 110 days of gestation, within 24 hours after farrowing, and at weaning. A subset of sows (equal number across treatments and parities) had blood drawn after a 12 hour fast on the first day of lactation and at weaning. The serum was collected to analyze beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), which indicate if the sow was meeting energy requirements via the diet or by mobilizing maternal tissues. The Transition program improved maternal body weight gain and
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