Feeding for performance: maximising intake and nutrient use in modern sows

Meeting the escalating demands requires a holistic approach that goes beyond formulation alone and addresses feed safety, voluntary feed intake, nutrient utilisation, health status, immune competence and overall management. Within this framework, two factors largely determine whether a sow can fully express her genetic potential: how much she eats, and how effectively nutrients are utilised. And this is where targeted nutrition can play a key role.

More than just kilograms per day

Sow nutrition is a key lever to optimise piglet performance. It involves providing adequate levels of essential nutrients, including amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, as well as functional components such as antioxidants and immunomodulatory compounds. Even the most precisely balanced diet, however, cannot deliver its intended benefits if feed intake is insufficient – a situation that occurs more frequently in practice than is generally assumed.

During late gestation, energy and amino acid requirements rise sharply due to rapid foetal growth, mammary development and colostrum synthesis. At the same time, in the days around farrowing, voluntary feed intake is often depressed as a result of changes in diet composition and environment, parturition-related stress and hormonal fluctuations. Moreover, lactating sows in commercial farrowing facilities experience heat stress almost continuously, which can further suppress appetite. And from the second or third week of lactation, feed intake frequently fails to keep pace with the dramatic nutrient demands of large, fast-growing litters.

Negative energy balance

Disruptions in feeding behaviour, whether due to heat stress, parturition, diet composition or palatability issues, can quickly push sows into a negative energy balance. High-producing sows therefore often begin mobilising body fat and protein tissue already in late gestation, and body weight losses of up to 20–25 kg during lactation are not uncommon. Excessive mobilisation of body reserves is associated with reduced colostrum and milk yield, impaired litter growth and survival, and compromised reproductive performance in the subsequent cycle.

Feed intake in lactating sows is often discussed primarily in terms of daily intake targets. While daily intake is clearly important, it does not fully capture feeding behaviour. Other aspects such as meal size and frequency, day-to-day consistency of intake, and intake during critical periods like early lactation are also important determinants.

Supporting feed intake through palatability

Within strategies aimed at supporting lactational performance, palatability-enhancing solutions can be considered valuable complementary tools to increase voluntary feed intake. Improving palatability is not about stimulating intake at a single moment, but about supporting appetite, reducing meal interruptions and maintaining consistent feeding patterns over time, particularly under challenging conditions such as heat stress or high litter demands. In addition, palatability solutions can help mask subtle variations in raw material quality that may otherwise negatively affect feed acceptance.

Krave® AP supports consistent feed intake

Krave® AP has been formulated to influence sow feeding behaviour by activating oronasal sensory pathways, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of the diet. In a study by Silva et al. (2021), supplementation with Krave® AP significantly increased average daily feed intake during lactation, from 5.36 to 6.42 kg/day; an increase of approximately 22% (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Adding flavour (Krave AP®) to the diet increased daily feed intake during lactation; feed intake differed between diets from d 3 to 24 (P < 0.05; Silva et al., 2021).

Beyond total daily intake, the study also demonstrated clear effects on feeding behaviour. Sows receiving Krave® AP consumed more feed per meal, particularly during the coolest periods of the day. This pattern is especially relevant under tropical or warm conditions, where heat load suppresses intake during daytime hours and shifts feeding activity toward the night. By increasing intake per feeding event during these favourable periods, Krave® AP supports a more stable energy supply throughout lactation (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Adding flavour (Krave AP®) to the lactation diet increased feed intake during the coolest part of the day; feed intake differed between diets on hourly feed consumption from 00:00 to 0800 and 1800 (*; P < 0.05). The solid line represents the average daily ambient temperature (Silva et al., 2021).

By supporting consistent voluntary feed intake, Krave® AP helps create a more favourable metabolic state, allowing sows to better meet their nutritional requirements through feed rather than through excessive mobilisation of body reserves. This more balanced energy status provides a physiological basis for improved lactational output and, indirectly, for piglet growth, survival and reproductive performance in the subsequent cycle.

Why higher feed intake is not enough

Even when palatability is optimised and feed intake increases, high-prolific sows may still be limited by their digestive capacity and dietary factors that reduce nutrient availability, such as high fibre levels and anti-nutritional components including non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and phytate.

NSP from cereals, legumes (e.g. soybean meal), and fibrous by-products, such as sunflower meal and wheat bran, can make up more than 25 percent of the diet during lactation. These fibres are poorly digested by pigs because they lack the necessary enzymes to break them down. They can increase digesta viscosity, impair nutrient absorption, slow gut transit and may even reduce voluntary feed intake. Consequently, a substantial proportion of dietary energy and amino acids may remain unavailable, highlighting the importance of maximising nutrient utilisation in addition to supporting feed intake.

Rovabio® improves nutrient utilisation

One of the most effective strategies to improve nutrient utilisation is the use of enzyme solutions designed to target antinutritional factors in the diet. Carbohydrase-rich enzyme preparations such as Rovabio® Excel break down complex fibre structures, reducing digesta viscosity, improving gut comfort, and releasing energy and nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable.

For broader antinutritional factors reduction, formulations that include phytase, such as Rovabio® Advance Phy (or PhyPlus), further enhance nutrient availability by degrading phytate and releasing bound phosphorus, as well as other minerals, amino acids and energy and reducing the interactions between phytate and the other components of feed such as proteins/ amino acids and minerals.

More available energy

The benefits of enzyme supplementation are supported by a meta-analysis of eight trials with 992 lactating sows (Cozannet et al., 2018). Enzyme supplementation increased dry matter, organic matter, and gross energy digestibility by 3.4 and 6.5, 3.9 and 8.1, and 4.2 and 5.5 percent units, in sows fed diets with low or high density (net energy and digestible lysine contents), respectively. This improved digestibility reduced body reserve mobilisation by approximately 3 kg during lactation, particularly in primiparous sows (Figure 3).

Figure 3. NSP enzyme supplementation results in less body weight loss during lactation, especially in primiparous sows.

Although 3 kg may seem modest, such body weight loss not only can significantly impact milk production, it also impairs follicle development, oocyte quality, and thus subsequent litter performance, like litter weight and uniformity. As a result of the higher energy availability, enzyme supplementation also increased litter weight gain up to weaning, with a greater effect in litters from multiparous sows (Figure 4).  

Figure 4. NSP enzyme supplementation results in higher litter weight gain, especially in multiparous sows.

Together, the results of this study suggest that the extra energy released by enzymes may be partitioned differently depending on parity and physiological status: in multiparous sows, it appears to support higher milk output for litter growth, while in primiparous sows, which are still completing their own growth, it primarily reduces body reserve mobilisation, potentially mitigating the so-called second-litter syndrome.

The biological synergy

From a physiological standpoint, feed intake and nutrient utilisation are closely related. A sow that consumes more feed but cannot digest it efficiently could still experience nutrient shortfalls, while a sow with high digestive efficiency but low intake cannot meet elevated lactation requirements.

Krave® AP promotes higher and more consistent voluntary feed intake, reducing day-to-day variability and supporting intake during critical periods. Rovabio range (Rovabio Excel, Rovabio Advance Phy, Rovabio PhyPlus) enhances the digestibility and absorption of nutrients, increasing the proportion of dietary energy and amino acids available for milk production rather than body reserve mobilisation.

Together, these strategies fit within a holistic approach, creating a more balanced metabolic state, optimising energy partitioning for both milk production and sow body condition, thereby supporting sustained lactation performance, litter growth, and reproductive success in the subsequent cycle.

In conclusion

For nutritionists and producers, the practical takeaway is clear: optimising both feed intake and nutrient utilisation is essential to unlock the full potential of high-prolific sows. Targeted nutritional solutions such as Krave® AP and Rovabio® range (Excel, Advance Phy and PhyPlus) provide practical tools to support consistent feed intake and efficient nutrient utilisation, thereby enhancing lactation performance, piglet growth, sow robustness, and long-term farm profitability.