The effect of dietary crude fibre content on the frequency of post partum agalactia in the sow.

Agalactia (MMA) occurs more or less in all sow herds. In an experiment comprising 14 pairs of full sibs, a low energy sow diet (L = 9.9 MJ ME/kg) was compared with a normal diet (N = 11.5 MJ ME/kg). The incidence of agalactia in the sows was lower in group L than in group N. The weight loss during lactation was higher for L sows, mainly due to feed refusals. The content of dry matter and fat in the milk was somewhat lower in group L. Piglet performance was not affected by the crude fibre content of the sow diet.