PEGASE, INRAE, Institut Agro, 35590 Saint Gilles, France.
PEGASE, INRAE, Institut Agro, 35590 Saint Gilles, France.
Animal. 2023 Jun;17(6):100843. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2023.100843. Epub 2023 May 4.
Colostrum intake, which is critical for piglet survival after birth and growth up to weaning, greatly depends on piglet weight and vitality at birth. Our aim was to identify a set of biological variables explaining individual variations in colostrum intake, preweaning growth and risk of dying. Farrowing traits, morphological traits and colostrum intake were determined for 504 piglets born alive from 37 Landrace × Large White sows. A subset of 203 of these piglets was used to measure plasma neonatal concentrations of metabolites and hormones in blood collected from the umbilical cord at birth. From univariate analyses, we established that colostrum intake was positively associated with plasma neonatal concentrations of IGF-I, albumin, thyroid hormones (P < 0.001), and non-esterified fatty acids (P < 0.05), and was negatively associated with concentrations of lactate (P < 0.001). In a multivariable analysis, the variables explaining the variation in colostrum intake were piglet birth weight and rectal temperature 1 h after birth (positive effect, P < 0.001), time of birth after the onset of parturition, and fructose plasma concentrations at birth (negative effects, P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). Piglets that died within 3 days after birth had lower neonatal concentrations of albumin (P < 0.001), IGF-I and thyroxine (P < 0.01) than surviving piglets. Preweaning growth was positively associated with neonatal concentrations of IGF-I, thyroxine (P < 0.001), albumin and insulin (P < 0.05). Cortisol and glucose concentrations at birth were not related to colostrum intake, neonatal survival or preweaning growth. Multivariable analyses confirmed that colostrum intake was the predominant factor influencing piglet survival within 3 days after birth and preweaning growth. These results provide physiological indicators of piglet colostrum intake, besides birth weight. They also confirm the impact of time of birth during farrowing on colostrum intake and the crucial importance of physiological maturity at birth for postnatal adaptation.
初乳摄入对仔猪出生后的存活和断奶前的生长至关重要，这极大程度上取决于仔猪出生时的体重和活力。我们的目的是确定一组生物学变量，以解释初乳摄入量、断奶前生长和死亡风险的个体差异。我们对 37 头长白猪×大白母猪所产的 504 头活仔猪的产仔特征、形态特征和初乳摄入量进行了测定。其中 203 头仔猪的一部分被用于测量出生时脐带血中代谢物和激素的新生儿血浆浓度。通过单变量分析，我们发现初乳摄入量与 IGF-I、白蛋白、甲状腺激素（P<0.001）和非酯化脂肪酸（P<0.05）的新生儿血浆浓度呈正相关，与乳酸浓度（P<0.001）呈负相关。在多变量分析中，解释初乳摄入量变化的变量是仔猪出生体重和出生后 1 小时的直肠温度（正效应，P<0.001）、分娩开始后的分娩时间和出生时的果糖血浆浓度（负效应，P<0.001 和 P<0.05）。出生后 3 天内死亡的仔猪的白蛋白（P<0.001）、IGF-I 和甲状腺素（P<0.01）的新生儿浓度低于存活仔猪。断奶前生长与 IGF-I、甲状腺素（P<0.001）、白蛋白和胰岛素（P<0.05）的新生儿浓度呈正相关。出生时的皮质醇和葡萄糖浓度与初乳摄入量、新生儿存活率或断奶前生长无关。多变量分析证实，初乳摄入量是出生后 3 天内仔猪存活和断奶前生长的主要因素。这些结果除了出生体重外，还提供了仔猪初乳摄入量的生理指标。它们还证实了分娩期间出生时间对初乳摄入量的影响以及出生时生理成熟度对产后适应的重要性。
