Abstract
Gilts were given diets in which a high proportion of supplementary protein was either soyabean meal (7%), mustardseed meal (10%) or rapeseed meal (10%). Treatments commenced when the pigs were 10 weeks of age, 22 kg liveweight, and continued through the first pregnancy and lactation to conception for the second pregnancy. The diets were similar in nutritive value and satisfied current requirement values. Diets containing mustard or rapeseed meal depressed the reproductive efficiency of gilts. Breeding was delayed in both groups (by 57 days with mustardseed and 27 days with rapeseed), some of the gilts failed to conceive (mustardseed 3/7 and rapeseed 2/6), and the gross appearance of their ovaries at post mortem suggested they had experienced periods of sub-oestrus. Delay in the onset of oestrus for the second pregnancy was also noted in gilts given rapeseed meal, and periods of sub-oestrus probably occurred also at this stage. The breeding and litter performance of the gilts that conceived (control 7, mustardseed 4 and rapeseed 4) were not affected by dietary treatment. Weight gains of litters to three weeks of age, during which time no creep feed was given, suggested that milk yield of the gilts was not depressed by either mustardseed or rapeseed meals.
Published Version
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