Long-term effects of maternal arginine supplementation and colostrum intake on pre- and postweaning growth in pigs

Maternal nutrition is vital for prenatal development and for piglet survival around parturition but may also be important for long-term growth. A total of 21 multiparous sows in 2 series, with 13 and 8 sows, respectively, were fed standard gestation and lactation diets supplied with 25 g arginine/d (ARG; n = 11) or isonitrogenous amounts of alanine (CON; n = 10) from d 30 of gestation to d 28 of lactation (weaning). Colostrum intake of individual piglets was determined based on piglet birth weight, weight gain (0-24 h), and duration of suckling in the colostrum period (0-24 h). At weaning, all piglets were weighed (n = 264) and the largest and the smallest pig (minimum of 5.0 kg) of each gender from each litter were selected from 13 litters (first series of sows) for further study (n = 52). Pigs were ad libitum fed from weaning until 140 d of age in pens comprising the 4 lit-termates. The MIXED procedure of SAS was used to estimate effects of dietary treatment, sex, piglet colostrum intake, and birth weight on pre- and postweaning growth. Piglet birth weight and preweaning growth were not affected by dietary treatment (P > 0.10). Postweaning ADG of ARG pigs was increased compared with that of CON pigs (P = 0.01). Piglet colostrum intake was positively related to preweaning (P < 0.001) and postweaning growth (P < 0.05), emphasizing the importance of colostrum on growth. Piglet birth weight was not related to pre- and postweaning ADG (P > 0.10) when piglet colostrum intake was taken into account. In conclusion, long-term growth performance was related to maternal arginine supplementation and piglet colostrum intake.