Cinnamon oil supplementation in lactation diets improves feed consumption in multiparous sows and reduces piglet mortality before weaning in tropical climates.
It’s well known that the production target on pig farms nowadays is to reach 30 to 40 weaned piglets per sow/year. This can be achieved in two ways:
- Increasing the number of live birth piglets and minimizing mortality before weaning
- Reducing birth intervals
Since the introduction of highly prolific sows, piglet mortality before weaning has become one of the main reproductive problems affecting productivity.
| A good daily feed intake is important for milk production in lactating sows. |
Low feed consumption not only decreases milk production and quality in sows, but also has a negative effect on piglets’ yield.
The sow’s milk production is the most important limiting factor for piglets’ growth rate. Sows that consume more feed during lactation have been shown to have higher milk production. Obtaining heavier piglets at 3, 4, 5 and 7 weeks with a relatively higher growth rate compared to sows that consume less feed during this period.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon essential oils (Cinnamaldehyde and Eugenol), possess antibacterial activity against Salmonella spp. , Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
⇒ This means that cinnamon oil extracts can disrupt the growth of pathogenic bacteria and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract of birds.
In the poultry industry, supplementing the diet of broilers with cinnamon oil results in a significant drop in “heat shock” proteins and can reduce heat stress. Aromatic plants have also been used to successfully stimulate the digestive system.
Uses in pig farming
Supplementation with cinnamon oil lactation diets of multiparous sows in tropical climates has been shown to increase their daily feed intake by 540g. In turn, the addition of 0.5 g/kg of cinnamon oil in the lactation diet improves voluntary feed consumption from 5.08 kg to 6.60 kg/day.
| A herbal extract containing a mixture of cinnamon, thyme, and oregano can slow down coliform proliferation in freshly weaned pigs. |
However, some other factors associated with feed consumption in lactating sows should be further investigated. Including the number of births they have had, mood and diseases.
On the other hand, the increase in feed intake recorded when using essential oils was not sufficient to improve milk production, quality, growth rate and serum IGF-I in piglets. Thus, there are still certain aspects that require more research to be carried out.
