Effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E level of the sow gestation diet on reproductive performance and on level of alpha tocopherol in colostrum, milk and dam and progeny blood serum.

Sixteen Yorkshire gilts were assigned randomly to four semi-purified diets fed throughout gestation and lactation. Two sources of fat (stripped lard and stripped corn oil) were fed factorially with two levels of vitamin E (atocopheryl acetate, 0 and 100 IU/kg of diet). All diets were supplemented with .05 ppm Se as Na2SeO3. Reproductive performance (litter size, individual pig birth weight, weaning weight and livability) was not affected by diet. No signs of selenium-vitamin E deficiency were noted in either dams or progeny. Serum atocoperhol concentration of darns was significantly reduced with low vitamin E diets and was higher in diets containing lard plus vitamin E than in diets containing corn oil plus vitamin E at 2, 8 and 12 weeks and immediately pre-partum. Concentration of a-tocopherol in colostrum and milk fat was several-fold higher with supplemental dietary vitamin E than without and lard tended to promote a higher concentration than corn oil although the difference was not significant. There was a pronounced decrease in c~-tocopherol concentration in all diet groups in colostrum compared with milk at 3 weeks lactation. Diet did not affect colostral or milk cholesterol concentration or dam or newborn progeny serum cholesterol levels. Progeny of sows in all diet groups had significantly higher serum 0~-tocopherol concentrations than those of their dams (P<.05