Abstract

VAZQUEZ MANDUJANO, Enrique; SOUZA, Tércia Cesária Reis de; RAMIREZ RODRIGUEZ, Ericka  and  MARISCAL-LANDIN, Gerardo. Impact of piglet birth weight on nitrogen and energy balances in the growth phase. Rev. mex. de cienc. pecuarias [online]. 2019, vol.10, n.4, pp.903-916.  Epub Apr 30, 2020. ISSN 2448-6698.  https://doi.org/10.22319/rmcp.v10i4.5559.

Low birth weight in pigs may compromise lifelong growth potential and productive performance. An evaluation was done of how birth weight affects nitrogen and energy balances in growing pigs. Assays of nitrogen and energy balances were done of five pairs of sibling piglets (n= 10), each pair consisting of a low birth weight (LBW= 912 ± 40 g) and a normal birth weight (NBW= 1,610 ± 223 g) individual. The pigs were managed normally until 90 days of age, then transferred to metabolic cages for the balance assays. These were done when both pigs attained 50 kg weight and again when they were the same age (when the LBW pig weighed 50 kg). The NBW pigs digested more (P<0.05) dry matter at 50 kg and at the same age (86.9 vs 86.0). Nitrogen digestibility tended to be higher (P<0.10) in the NBW at 50 kg (77.6 vs 76.7) and was clearly higher (P<0.05) at the same age (78.0 vs 76.7). Retained nitrogen as a percentage of intake was higher (P<0.01) in the NBW (61.1% vs 57.7 %) at the same age, which also occurred (P <0.10) for nitrogen retained as a percentage of absorbed nitrogen (78.4 % vs 75.2 %). Energy digestibility was higher (P<0.05) in the NBW both at 50 kg (85.1 vs 84.1%) and at the same age (P<0.01) (85.4 vs 84.1 %). Metabolizable energy was higher in the NBW both at 50 kg (P<0.05) (83.0 vs 82.0 %) and at the same age (P<0.01) (83.5 vs 82.0 %). The low birth weight piglets were generally less efficient than the normal birth weight pigs.

Keywords : Low birth weight; Energy balance; Nitrogen balance; Swine.

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