Effect of lactation feeding level on the performance and subsequent production of indigenous pigs in Nigeria.

A total of 72 indigenous Nigerian sows with a live weight varying about 103 (+/- 6) kg on the 110th day of farrowing depending on feeding level was used to determine an optimum restrictive feeding level during the first lactation, 55 of which were also investigated in the following lactation under comparable conditions. During their 42-day lactation period the sows were fed 0.3 or 0.5 kg of a maize-groundnut-cake mixed feed (15% CP) per nursing piglet or ad libitum. The reduced overall feed intake of the sows (72.6 and 126.4 as compared with 164.6 kg) or per weaned piglet (13.8, 20.1, and 25.7 kg) led to different live weight losses of these lactating sows (27.7 and 18.8 as compared to 19.6 kg), significantly different litter size on the 21st and 42nd day of age of the litter, to a differentiated proportion of weaned animals, and to different weaning weights. Restricting the sow feed to 0.3 kg per nursing pig reduced the live weight of the sows on the 110th day of the second farrowing, the number and weight of pigs born alive as compared with the other feeding variants, but it did not effect the vigour of the pigs born alive at the second farrowing.