Sow Feed Talk Offers Lots to Chew On

Friday, July 24, 2026

Proper nutrition is a ‘weighting’ game

By Geoff Geddes

They may not raid the fridge when they’re hungry, but underfed pigs CAN freeze your income.

Feed is a producer’s greatest expense and one of the most critical factors affecting growth, production, performance, and profit. With sows, proper intake is vital to feeding their litter, and this was the focus of the talk “Nutrition for sows nursing large litters” at the 2026 Manitoba Swine Seminar.

Lactation is a highly demanding period for sows. While milk production is high, feed intake may be insufficient to provide adequate energy and nutrients. Consequently, sows could experience maternal tissue mobilization, where they mobilize body reserves to sustain milk production. Left unchecked, this process can negatively affect reproductive performance.

“According to a recent study, during instances of extreme body weight loss, milk yield and litter growth rates can be reduced, leading to increased piglet mortality and lower piglet bodyweight at weaning,” said Dr. Lee-Anne Huber, associate professor in swine nutrition in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph.

To prevent such outcomes, proper nutrition and feed management are essential for sows, both during lactation and going forward. With that in mind, this talk reviewed nutritional strategies to improve milk production and reduce sow weight loss during lactation.

With some things, less is more, but when it comes to sow feed intake at certain stages, more is better. In particular, maximizing intake right after farrowing and throughout lactation enhances milk production, which impacts litter weaning weight. This practice also minimizes body weight loss for sows while improving subsequent reproductive performance.

“Some hesitancy toward allowing full access to feed after farrowing continues to linger in the sow feeding realms, due to a perceived risk of a sudden ‘crash’ in feed intake in the days after farrowing,” Huber told the gathering. “Recent work, however, has shown that there is no real benefit to limiting feed intake on Days 1 and 2 after farrowing versus providing full access to feed on Day 1.”

Just as feed volume is important, so too is the frequency of feeding. Research has shown that when sows consume six small meals per day versus two, piglet body weight at weaning is enhanced with less feed per kilogram of piglet weaned weight. Additionally, heavier piglets at weaning maintained their growth advantage through the nursery and grow-finish phases, resulting in heavier carcasses. That is a rare win-win for producers, even those who take a low-tech approach to feeding. Although electronic sow feeders in lactation simplify the use of frequent small meals, hand-feeding achieves the same result, albeit with higher labour costs.

Sows may not have picky palates, but they still appreciate flavour. Palatants, also known as flavours or feed additives, are another option to boost feed intake by enhancing a diet’s taste and smell.

“This is especially effective in summer, when adding palatants to a sow’s diet has been shown to increase feed ingestion time and feed intake,” explained Huber. “As a result, litter growth rate and piglet body weight at weaning were improved.”

Maxing out

All feeding strategies, however, face a major hurdle: Sows can only eat so much, and it may not be sufficient to meet their energy and nutrient needs for milk production. One solution is to add extra fibre during late gestation, thereby prompting further development of the gastrointestinal tract and raising sow feed intake capacity for the next lactation. As a further benefit, increasing feed intake during lactation boosts milk production and piglet body weight at weaning.

“Even if several feed management strategies are implemented, it might still be a challenge for the sow to achieve sufficient feed intake, especially for young sows with smaller gut capacities and all sows during heat stress events,” Huber said at the seminar. “In these instances, a more energy-dense diet might be considered so that every mouthful of feed provides additional energy versus the standard diet.”

Also, adding a moderate amount of fat to lactating sow diets (three to six per cent) can improve milk energy content and piglet growth rates.

Ultimately, producers are advised to feed lactating sows as much as possible to ensure they have the energy and nutrients needed to nurse a sizable litter.

The perks of precision

It would be nice if producers could take a ‘one diet fits all’ approach to sow feeding and achieve optimal results, but it is never that simple. The standard practice is to feed every sow the same type of diet through lactation. Unfortunately, that diet may not match the dynamic feed intake pattern nor the milk production curve of the lactating sow, which is where precision feeding comes in.

“Precision feeding is the blending of two different diets to better match the estimated nutrient and energy requirements based on sow body weight, sow feed intake, parity, and litter growth rate,” explained Huber.

“It is another strategy to improve milk production capacity. By blending two diets, we provided dynamic daily amounts of SID lysine and net energy to sows. The result was an improvement in piglet average daily gain and body weight at weaning relative to sows that received a static feeding program that provided no alterations in diet composition.”

Lysine is the first limiting amino acid in corn-soybean meal diets for pigs, and its standardized ileal digestible (SID) level is critical for maximizing growth, feed efficiency, and carcass quality.

For farms that do not employ electronic sow feeders and multiple feed lines in farrowing rooms, producers can still vary the nutrient profile of diets with a top-dressing approach. This involves adding another ingredient to the standard lactation regimen, such as a protein source like canola meal, soybean meal, or full-fat soybeans. Before doing so, however, producers are advised to consult a nutritionist and consider the unique elements of their operation, such as parity distribution and sow average daily feed intakes.

There is much to consider around nutrition for sows nursing large litters. In the end, though, if you feed them right, they can nourish your bottom line for years to come. BP