Effects of dietary supplementation with lysozyme during late gestation and lactation stage on the performance of sows and their offspring1

This study investigated the effects of supplementing sow diets with lysozyme during the late gestation to lactation stage on the performance of sows and their offspring.Sixty sows (Yorkshire × Landrace, 3 to 6 of parity) at day 85 of gestation were allocated to the following 3 dietary treatments: 1) sows fed a basal diet from late gestation to lactation (control, n = 20), 2) sows fed a basal diet with lysozyme 150 g/t (LZM 150, n = 20), and 3) sows fed a basal diet with lysozyme 300 g/t (LZM 300, n = 20).During the lactation period, sows fed diets containing lysozyme had increased average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P < 0.01) and decreased weaning-to-estrus interval (WEI, P < 0.05), but there were no significant effects on backfat during the trial among treatments.Sows fed lysozyme diets had increased (P < 0.05) serum concentration of total protein (TP) compared with those fed the control diets.Serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) of the sows increased (P < 0.05) on day 1 of lactation, immunoglobulin A (IgA) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) increased (P < 0.05) on day 7 of lactation, and immunoglobulin G (IgG) had a tendency to increase (P = 0.05) during the lactation.Milk concentration of IgA increased (P < 0.05) on day 1 and 7 of lactation