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Supplementation of the Swine Gestation Diet with Pyridoxine¹

Departments of Animal Husbandry and Agricultural Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing

Forty-four pregnant swine were fed either a normal gestation ration or the same diet supplemented with 5 mg of pyridoxine·HCl per pound. Supplementation was begun during the second month of gestation and extended through a 35-day lactation period. Analyses of the data indicate that pyridoxine supplementation failed to improve the reproductive performance of the sow or the pre-weaning growth of her offspring. Furthermore, the additional pyridoxine had no significant effect upon the hematology or biochemistry of the sow during middle and late gestation. The 4-pyridoxic acid excretion rate in the urine of all sows in the trial greatly exceeded their dietary intake of pyridoxine. This suggests there may be appreciable bacterial synthesis of vitamin B₆ in the intestine of mature swine.

Pigs farrowed by pyridoxine-supplemented sows exhibited significantly higher hematological values at birth than those farrowed by unsupplemented sows; however, the differences vanished within a week following birth.

Daily administration of 400 mg of desoxypyridoxine in the diet of two gilts for three weeks prior to parturition failed to produce an acute deficiency, although chronic symptoms were observed.

Apparently the control diet contained enough pyridoxine (0.45 mg per pound of diet) to meet the swine gestation pyridoxine requirement for normal reproduction.

Manuscript received 22 November 1959.