Characterisation of Porcine Colostrum and its Impact on Piglet Growth

Abstract

The female mammal makes an enormous metabolic investment in the early development of her offspring and this continues until the offspring is independent of its mother at weaning. Mammary secretion of colostrum and then milk requires a high proportion of ingested nutrients from the maternal diet and represents a continuation of metabolite partitioning for the growth and development of the young in-utero. Lactation represents the most energetically demanding process of the reproductive cycle. This thesis reviews current knowledge of the composition of porcine colostrum and mature milk, focusing on compositional differences that may help account for the poorer weaning performance of gilt litters in comparison to performance of litters of more experienced sows.