Abstract Background Nutritional strategies for sows designed to reduce peripartum stress are suggested support postpartum recovery and productivity. Spray-dried plasma (SDP) in sow feed has been reported benefit litter performance. Stressed animals fed diets with SDP have a more efficient immune response supporting animal health. The objectives of the present study using 452 (147 parity 1 sows,...

In order to differentiate groups of hypocalcemic (G1) and normocalcemic animals (G2) infer the influence subclinical hypocalcemia on metabolic profiles, this study determined calcium concentrations during transitional period in 35 dairy goats healthy, pregnant, primiparous or multiparous, crossbreed pure-bred producing average 3 kg/day/goat. Therefore, blood samples were collected before (30, 2...

To better understand the role of nutrition in regulating mammary gland development and lactation, we designed a novel stair-step compensatory nutrition regimen that is a unique combination of dietary energy restriction and realimentation (refeeding) phases; the basic concept of this regimen is to exploit the biological nature of the compensatory growth phenomenon in concert with one or more hor...