Betaine during lactation benefits sow and piglet performance

Monday, December 5, 2011

Spanish research suggests that the use of supplemental betaine can improve sow feed intake, reduce the weaning-to-estrus interval, increase the numbers of piglets born alive and weaned piglets per litter in the subsequent parity

by JANICE MURPHY

Betaine is a byproduct of molasses production from sugar beets. It has been used as a nutritional supplement in finishing diets to improve performance after research showed that it can increase carcass leanness and improve feed efficiency. While research has focused mainly on betaine's use in finishers, there is limited information on its effects on reproductive performance in sows.

Betaine provides benefits by helping to retain water in the cells, improving ionic pump function, and saving energy used in electrolyte balance. It also improves liver function, helping with homeostasis, and acts as a methyl-donating compound.

During parturition and lactation, when feed intake tends to be reduced or limited, sows struggle to get enough energy through their feed. This often results in severe body-weight loss as they mobilize fat stores and consume muscle mass. And even though the current litter may not be compromised, the results may be manifested in the size of the subsequent litter. Since research has shown that the effects of betaine are more pronounced when feed intake is restricted, it could help improve reproductive traits.

Researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain recently set out to assess the effect of betaine on reproductive performance in gilts and multiparous sows and to evaluate performance of the piglets during lactation.

Forty-eight sows and gilts were randomly assigned to control and betaine treatments (12 each per treatment), with the betaine-fed group receiving feed supplemented at a rate of 1.92 grams of betaine per kilogram of feed. The treatment diets (Table 1) were offered when the sows were moved to the farrowing room, five days before their predicted farrowing date, and continued throughout the 18-day lactation. The sows' performance was tracked through two consecutive parities (Table 2), and the colostrum and milk were measured quantitatively and qualitatively.

In the first parity studied, only average daily feed intake differed significantly between the betaine-fed and control sows. Although the betaine-fed sows ate less, there was no significant difference in bodyweight loss during lactation.

The researchers suggested that this could be the result of energy savings from a lower rate of breakdown in body reserves in the betaine-fed sows, but this requires further corroboration. The betaine-fed sows' lower intake during the second parity suggests these sows may have made better use of the energy and resources mobilized during lactation, or possibly made more efficient use of the nutrients provided in the diet.

Litter weight at weaning was significantly greater for the betaine-fed sows compared to the control. This could be the result of higher milk production, since there was no evidence of differences in the qualitative analysis of colostrum or milk between treatments. However, it is important to consider that the content of betaine in the milk was higher in treated sows than in controls. Piglets in the treated group received 0.219 grams of betaine per kilogram of milk, compared with 0.125 grams in the control piglets.

Betaine supplementation in the diet is known to enhance intestinal function, increase nutrient digestibility in piglets, and change water retention within muscle cells, which might all have contributed to an increase in total body weight.

Sows fed betaine exhibited significantly shorter weaning-to-estrus intervals, a difference of 19 per cent. The greater availability of energy derived from betaine intake may have improved the sows' hormonal balance and caused this beneficial effect.

In the second studied parity, betaine significantly increased the number of piglets born alive and pigs weaned per sow. The researchers hypothesized that the increased level of energy available during lactation improved follicular development, resulting in a larger number of oocytes available at mating and greater secretions of hormones after weaning.

Since all stages of follicular development can be sensitive to these types of changes, the hormone levels that influence follicular development at any stage of lactation may ultimately have an ongoing effect on the size and quality of follicles ready at weaning.

These results suggest that feeding betaine beginning five days before farrowing and continuing to the end of lactation can improve sow feed intake, reduce the weaning-to-estrus interval, increase the numbers of piglets born alive and weaned piglets per litter in the subsequent parity, and increase the body-weight gain of the piglets at weaning.

There were no significant differences between treatments in colostrum or milk composition, methyl-donating compounds (except for betaine), or fatty acid profile throughout the experiment.

The researchers predicted that, using these results, the use of supplemental betaine would be a profitable venture based on gains per sow per year, taking the cost of betaine into consideration. However, prior to making a general recommendation to use betaine as a feed ingredient to improve sow and litter performance, they admitted further research would be needed in order to confirm the results in a larger sample size. BP

Source: Ramis G, Evangelista JNB, Quereda JJ, et al. Use of betaine in gilts and sows during lactation: effects on milk quality, reproductive parameters, and piglet performance. J Swine Health Prod. 2011;19(4):226-232.

Janice Murphy is a former Ontario agriculture ministry swine nutritionist who now lives and works in Prince Edward Island.