WHY MORE ENERGY FOR NEWBORN BABY PIGS?
High mortality and morbidity of neonatal pigs is a very serious problem to the swine industry today. Many researchers estimate over 50% of all swine mortality comes during the first few days of the baby pigs life. For this reason, there is considerable interest in eliminating factors, which are responsible for poor neonatal performance. The solution is very complex as many factors are involved, including nutritional deficiencies, poor disease resistance, as well as maternal crushing. The majority of baby pig deaths occur during the suckling period or within the first few days of life. Many of these deaths are attributed to crushing, large litters, etc. However, this may be predisposed by the possibility of an energy deficiency in the pigs, leading to a weekend, unthrifty condition. To help remedy this problem, much emphasis has been placed on feeding fat to the sow in late gestation with the hope of improving the energy status of the newborn pigs. This approach, has met with some limit
