The Effects of Dietary Fat or Fiber Addition on Yield and Composition of Milk from Sows Housed in a Warm or Hot Environment

Sixty sows were individually penned in a thermoneutral (20°C) or hyperthermal (32°C) environment and fed a basal (corn-soybean meal), high-fiber (48.5% wheat bran) or high-fat (10.6% choice white grease) diet from d 100 of gestation through a 22-d lactation. The diets were determined to contain 3.28, 2.76 and 3.75 Mcal ME/kg, respectively. All pigs received 8.0 Mcal of ME and 17.5 g of lysine daily prior to parturition and were allowed to consume their respective diets ad libitum after parturition. Litter size was standardized at 9 to 10 pigs by d 2 postpartum. Milk yields were determined for five, 4-d periods from about d 2 through 22 of lactation via a D20 dilution technique. Daily milk yield and litter weight gain began to plateau, and the efficiency of utilizing milk DM and milk energy for gain was depressed (P < .01), in the latter stages of the lactation. Heat exposure (32°C) reduced (P < .05) voluntary ME intake and milk energy yield of the sow and increased (P < .05) the sow's weight loss during lactation. In the hot environment, increasing dietary energy concentration resulted in a linear (P < .08) increase in milk fat content and milk energy yield over the duration of the 22-d lactation. In the latter stages of lactation, pigs consuming high-fat milk required more (P < .09) milk and milk energy per unit of weight gain. In the warm environment, milk energy yield was increased by dietary fat or fiber additions in early lactation, but not in late lactation. These results indicate that the effects of thermal heat stress on sow milk energy yield and litter weight gain are aggravated by dietary fiber addition and minimized by dietary fat addition.