Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T07:08:10.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Influence of high ambient temperatures on food intake and feeding behaviour of multiparous lactating sows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

N. Quiniou*
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France
D. Renaudeau
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France
S. Dubois
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France
J. Noblet
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 35590 Saint-Gilles, France
*
On leave from Institut Technique du Porc, BP 3, 35651 Le Rheu, France.
Get access

Abstract

Forty multiparous Large White sows were used to investigate the effects of five ambient temperature levels (18, 22, 25, 27, and 29°C) and two dietary protein contents on their feeding behaviour during lactation. At each temperature treatment, ambient temperature was kept constant over the 21-day lactation period. Dietary protein content was either 140 or 170 g/kg with essential amino acids levels calculated to he non-limiting. Photoperiod was fixed to 14 h of artificial light. The animals were given food ad libitum between the 7th and the 19th day of lactation. Feeding behaviour was not influenced by diet composition. Over the 13 days under ad libitum feeding conditions, voluntary food intake decreased from 7·80 to 3·50 kg/day between 18 and 29°C, which was achieved through a decreased daily number of meals at the highest temperature (6·8 to 4·5 at 18 and 29°C, respectively). No significant difference among temperatures was observed on meal size, even if the highest (1372 g) and the lowest (883 g) values were obtained at 18 and 29°C, respectively. Rate of food intake was not influenced by temperature and averaged 133 g/min; consequently, decreased voluntary food intake under heat exposure resulted in reduced ingestion time (61 and 29 min/day at 18 and 29°C, respectively). Hourly food intake peaked at the beginning and the end of the light period. It resulted in a mainly diurnal partition of food intake. This partition was significantly affected by temperature as proportionately 0·87 and 0·91 of total food intake occurred during the day at 27 and 29°C, respectively, v. 0·81 on average between 18 and 25°C. Number of meals was lower during the night (1·1 v. 5·2 during the day on average); it decreased with increased temperature both during the day and the night. Meal size was lower during the night (938 v. 1080 g during the day on average). The ratio between water and food intake was significantly higher at 29°C (8·1 v. 4·2 l/kg on average between 18 and 27°C). Standing activity averaged 124 min/day with no significant difference between temperatures.

Type
Non-ruminant nutrition, behaviour and production
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auffray, P. and Marcilloux, J.-C. 1980. [An analysis of feeding patterns in the adult pig.] Reproduction, Nutrition, Development 20: 16251632.Google Scholar
Bigelow, J. A. and Houpt, T. R. 1988. Feeding and drinking patterns in young pigs. Physiology and Behavior 43: 99109.Google Scholar
Black, J. L., Mullan, B. P., Lorschy, M. L. and Giles, L. R. 1993. Lactation in the sow during heat stress. Livestock Production Science 35: 153170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Close, W. H. 1989. The influence of the thermal environment on the voluntary food intake of pigs. In Voluntary food intake of pigs (ed. Forbes, J. M., Varley, M. A. and Lawrence, T. L. J.) British Society of Animal Production occasional publication no. 13, pp. 8796.Google Scholar
Dourmad, J.-Y. 1993. Standing and feeding behaviour of the lactating sow: effect of feeding level during pregnancy. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 37: 311319.Google Scholar
Elsley, F. W. H. 1971. Nutrition and lactation in the sow. In Proceedings of the 17th Easter school in agricultural science: lactation (ed. Falconer, I. R.), pp. 393411. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Ermer, P. M., Tilton, S. L., Miller, P. S., Lewis, A. J. and Wolverton, C. K. 1995. Addition of fat to diets of lactating sows. 2. Effects on energy intake, meal patterns and blood hormones metabolites. Nebraska swine reports, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extention EC 94-219 A, pp. 3640.Google Scholar
Feddes, J. J. R., Young, B. A. and DeShazer, J. A. 1989. Influence of temperature and light on feeding behaviour of pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 23: 215222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haer, L. C. M. de and Merks, J. W. M. 1992. Patterns of daily food intake in growing pigs. Animal Production 54: 95104.Google Scholar
Hsia, L. C. and Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1983. A note on social facilitation and competition in the feeding behaviour of pigs. Animal Production 37: 149152.Google Scholar
Hsia, L. C. and Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1984. The temporal patterns of food intake and allometric food intake and allomimetic feeding by pigs of different ages. Applied Animal Ethology 11: 271282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, J. C. and Cameron, N. D. 1996. Responses of gilt post-farrowing traits and pre-weaning piglet growth to divergent selection for components of efficient lean growth rate. Animal Science 63: 523531.Google Scholar
Labroue, F., Guéblez, R., Meunier-Salaün, M.-C., and Sellier, P. 1995. [Influence of breed (Large White vs Piétrain) on the feeding behaviour of group-housed growing pigs: first results.] Journées de la Recherche Porcine en France 27: 175182.Google Scholar
Neil, M., Ogle, B. and Annér, K. 1996. A two-diet system and ad libitum lactation feeding of the sow. 1. Sow performance. Animal Science 62: 337347.Google Scholar
Nienaber, J. A., Hahn, G. L., Korthals, R. L. and McDonald, T. P. 1993. Eating behavior of swine influenced by environmental temperature. Transactions of the ASAE 36: 937944.Google Scholar
Nienaber, J. A., Hahn, G. L., McDonald, T. P. and Korthals, R.L. 1996. Feeding patterns and swine performance in hot environments. Transactions of the ASAE 39: 195202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nienaber, J. A., McDonald, T. P., Hahn, G. L. and Chen, Y.R. 1991. Group feeding behavior of swine. Transactions of the ASAE 34: 289294.Google Scholar
Noblet, J. and Etienne, M. 1987. Metabolic utilization of energy and maintenance requirements in lactating sows. Journal of Animal Science 64: 774781.Google Scholar
Noblet, J. and Etienne, M. 1989. Estimation of sow milk nutrient output. Journal of Animal Science 67: 33523359.Google Scholar
Noblet, J., Fortune, H., Shi, X. S. and Dubois, S. 1994. Prediction of net energy value of feeds for growing pigs. Journal of Animal Science 72: 344354.Google Scholar
Noblet, J., Karege, C. and Dubois, S. 1991. Influence of growth potential on energy requirements for maintenance in growing pigs. Proceedings of the 12th symposium on energy metabolism, Zurich (ed. Wenk, C. and Boessinger, M.) European Association for Animal Production, vol. 58, pp. 107110.Google Scholar
Noblet, J., Shi, X. S. and Dubois, S. 1993. Energy cost of standing activity in sows. Livestock Production Science 34: 127136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Grady, J. F., Lynch, P. B. and Kearney, P. A. 1985. Voluntary feed intake by lactating sows. Livestock Production Science 12: 355365.Google Scholar
Prunier, A., Dourmad, J.-Y. and Etienne, M. 1994. Effect of light regimen under various ambient temperatures on sow and litter performance. Journal of Animal Science 72: 14611466.Google Scholar
Quiniou, N. and Noblet, J. 1999. Influence of high ambient temperatures on performance of multiparous lactating sows. Journal of Animal Science 77: 21242134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quiniou, N., Noblet, J. and Dubois, S. 2000. Feeding behaviour of group-housed growing pigs is affected by ambient temperature and body weight. Livestock Production Science In press.Google Scholar
Ramonet, Y., Meunier-Salaün, M. -C. and Dourmad, J.-Y. 1997. [The effect of fibre incorporation in the diet on the behaviour of pregnant sows.] Journées de la Recherche Porcine en France 29: 167174.Google Scholar
Schoenherr, W. D., Stahy, T. S. and Cromwell, G. L. 1989. The effects of dietary fat or fibre addition on yield and composition of milk from sows housed in warm or hot environment. Journal of Animal Science 67: 482495.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1990. SAS/STAT® user’s guide: statistics, release 6-07. Statistical Analysis Systems Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar