책임운영기관 농촌진흥청 국립축산과학원 (로고)

Dietary fiber plays a important role in improving gut micriobiome and reproductive performance in gestating sows. This study aimed to evaluate effects of dietary supplementation with domestically produced alfalfa, provided in pelleted or mashed form, on body weight, body condition, litter performance, fecal score and fecal microbiome in gestating sows. A total of nine crossbred F1 gilts (Yorkshire × Landrace) with an average body weight of 230.33 ± 12.63 kg at 50 days of gestation were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments (n = 3 per treatment): (1) control (CON, basal diet), (2) Pellet (basal diet + 10% pelleted alfalfa), and (3) Mash (basal diet + 10% mashed alfalfa). Results indicated that alfalfa supplementation had no significant effect on weight gain during gestation (p>0.05), although sows in both alfalfa-supplemented groups showed numerically reduced weight loss during lactation compared to the control. The mashed alfalfa improved average daily weight gain of piglets during lactation (p<0.05). Moreover, the pelleted alfalfa alleviated constipation and numerically increased the relative abundance of positive microbes such as Firmicutes (phylum level), Lactobacillaceae and Ruminococcaceae (family level), and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Lactobacillus, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG_002 (genus level) (p<0.05). On the other hands, it numerically decreased the relative abundance of negative microbes such as Proteobacteria in phylum level and Escherichia_Shigella in genus level. These findings suggest that domestically grown alfalfa, particularly in pellet or mash form, may be a valuable dietary fiber source for gestating sows to support piglet performance, gut health, and welfare. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm these effects.