LAUSR

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that hybrid rye can replace corn in gestation and lactation diets without negatively affecting sow and litter performance. For gestation and lactation, a corn-soybean meal control diet and 3 additional diets in which hybrid rye replaced 25, 50, or 75% of corn were formulated. Sows were randomly allotted by parity to treatments, with 45 replicate sows per treatment. Sows were individually housed for the duration of the experiment. Sow BW were recorded on d 7 and d 105 of gestation, as well as within 24 h after farrowing and on the day of weaning (approximately d 20 of lactation). Number and weights of live born, still born, and mummified piglets were determined within 24 h of farrowing. Data related to piglet mortality were analyzed using SAS Proc Glimmix with binomial distribution, whereas all other data were analyzed using Proc Mixed. The statistical models included the fixed effects of diet and parity. Diet did not influence sow BW or sow ADG at any point in the experiment (Table 1). Diet did not affect number or weights of total, live, or still born pigs, but there was an increase and then a reduction in the number of pigs weaned, litter wean weight, and litter ADG as the inclusion of hybrid rye in the diets increased (quadratic, P < 0.05). Piglet mortality, as well as the proportion of piglets crushed by sows, tended (P < 0.10) to be quadratically reduced as hybrid rye was added to the diet. In conclusion, replacing corn with hybrid rye in gestation and lactation diets had no effect on sow BW changes nor on number or birthweights of piglets, and overall, diets with 25% and 50% corn replacement rate with rye resulted in improved sow lactation performance.