Impact of Prefarrow Macro Mineral and Vitamin Supplementation on Sow Livability

The objective was to investigate the impact of prefarrow macro mineral and vitamin supplementation on sow livability. In Study A, sows (n = 321) were randomly allocated in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Treatments consisted of two top dressed supplements administered from day 110 of gestation until farrowing: 1) 50 g of dicalcium phosphate (18.5% phosphorus) and 2) extra vitamins. In Study B, sows (n = 415) were either top dressed from day 109 of gestation until farrowing with both 50 g of dicalcium phosphate (18.5% phosphorus) and extra vitamins, or received no extra supplementation. Control diets met or exceeded NRC (2012) recommendations. Sows were classified as having lived from day 109 or 110 of gestation until weaning or not. Chi-square tests were used to determine whether the two categorical variables were related. In Study A, sow mortality was lower (P < 0.05) for sows top dressed with both dicalcium phosphate and extra vitamins compared to Control sows or those top dressed with dicalcium phosphate alone (1.3% vs. 9.0% and 9.1%, respectively). Mortality for sows receiving only extra vitamins (5.6%) did not differ (P > 0.05) from the other treatments. In Study B, sows receiving the combination of dicalcium phosphate and extra vitamins tended (P = 0.07) to have lower mortality than Control sows (3.9% vs. 8.1%). When combining data from Studies A and B, sows top dressed with both dicalcium phosphate and extra vitamins had lower (P < 0.01) mortality than the Control sows (3.2% vs. 8.4%). Across both studies, sows receiving the combination of extra macro minerals and vitamins had fewer (P < 0.05) prolapses (1.1% vs. 3.8%), which was primarily driven by a reduction (P < 0.01) in rectal prolapses (0% vs. 2.4%). First parity sows supplemented with the combination had lower (P < 0.01) mortality than the Control group (0% vs. 10.4%). In summary, the combination of extra macro mineral and vitamin supplementation enhanced sow livability.