Modelling Nutrient Utilization in Sows: A Way Towards the Optimization of Nutritional Supplies

摘要

In recent years, the reproductive performance of sows has been drastically improved. Nowadays, on many farms, with the use of hyperprolific sows, the average litter size exceeds 13 piglets at farrowing and 11.5 at weaning. These changes in performance have had major effects on the nutritional requirements during both pregnancy and lactation. At the same time, from the results obtained over the past 20 years on energy, amino acid and mineral utilization in sows, it has become possible to improve the determination of nutrient requirements (factorial approach) and the prediction of an animal's response to nutrients supplies (modelling). The aim of this chapter is to describe how the current state of knowledge on sow nutrition can be included in an integrated model, as well as in a software tool, designed for end-users, mainly nutritionists in the pig industry and students in animal nutrition. Different examples are given to illustrate how the use of such a model can help in optimizing the productivity ofsows, while considering new priorities such as the reduction of the environmental impact of pig production, which can be achieved through a more precise adjustment of nutrient supply to requirement.