Effect of feeding fermented extruded corn stover on reproductive performance of pregnant sows

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of fermented extruded corn stover on back fat thickness, reproductive performance and serum hormone in sows during late pregnancy. A total of 48 pregnant sows (24 Landrace and 24 Yorkshire) were randomly assigned into four experimental treatment groups (0%, 10%, 15% and 20% fermented extruded corn stover). Back fat thickness results showed that no significant differences on control group compared to each fermented treatment groups (P>0.05) at 55 and 105 days of gestation, respectively. Reproductive performance results demonstrated that control group had a lower litter size per head than 10% fermented extruded corn stover group (P less than 0.05), respectively. The results showed that leptin hormone was higher in control group than 10%, 15% and 20% treatment groups (P less than 0.05), respectively. Our findings suggested that 10% fermented extruded corn stover increased the litter size per head in pregnant sows.