Almond hull in lactation sows diet: impact on reproduction, nutrient digestibility, fecal score, milk content, and suckling piglet growth

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of incorporating dietary almond hull (AH) supplementation on various aspects, including the reproductive and growth performance of sows and their piglets, as well as nutrient digestibility, milk composition, and fecal score. For this purpose, a total of 21 sows (Landrace × Yorkshire), with an average parity of 3.3, were selected and divided into three dietary treatment groups: (i) a control group as basal diet (CON), (ii) the basal diet with 3% AH (TRT1), and (iii) the basal diet with 6% AH (TRT2). This study covered the period from 100th day of pregnancy until weaning. Dietary AH supplementation did not affect lactating sow’s reproduction performance as well as body weight, backfat thickness, and body condition score during pre- and post- farrowing, and at weaning. Similarly, body weight loss, backfat thickness loss, average daily feed intake, and estrus interval did not show significant variations among the treatment groups. Furthermore, the inclusion of AH in the diet has not had a discernible impact on nutrient digestibility. However, dietary supplementation of the AH has improved the body weight (p = 0.0464) at weaning and average daily gain (p = 0.0146) of suckling piglets. Moreover, the milk content and fecal score of the sows did not exhibit significant differences across the treatment groups. Overall, the addition of AH to the sow diet had a favorable effect on the body weight and average daily gain of suckling piglets, without exerting any detrimental effects on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, milk composition, and fecal score of lactating sows.