[en] From day 103 in gestation until farrowing, 4 successive groups of 15 sows received 70 g per day of one of the 3 following oils: 1) coconut oil (CO); 2) fish oil (FO) and 3) shark liver oil (SO). At day 102 of gestation, at farrowing and at weaning, backfat thickness of the sows was determined. The total number of piglets, the number of piglets born alive, stillborn and dead during the suckling period and the duration of gestation were measured. At birth as well as 24 hours, 14 days and 28 days (weaning) later, the piglets were weighed individually. Colostrum samples were collected at farrowing and 24 hours later for the determination of IgG and IgA contents and the fatty acid profile. Neither performance parameters of the sows nor IgG and IgA concentrations in colostrum were affected by the different dietary treatments. This was probably due to the short duration of trial period in which the oil supplements were administered. However, the colostral fatty acid profiles reflected very well the profiles of the supplemented oils. Furthermore, the different treatments affected the growth performances of the piglets. At weaning, the piglets from the FO treatment were respectively 263 and 329 g heavier than the piglets from the SO and CO treatments (P < 0.05). This corresponded to 4.2 % and 5.8 % increase of the ADG in comparison to the SO and CO treatments, respectively.
These results show the importance of the fatty acid composition in colostrum on the performances of piglets and consequently the importance of the feeding of sows at the end of gestation.
