The influence of dietary restriction before and after 10 weeks of age on osteochondrosis in growing gilts

Osteochondrosis (OC) is one of the main causes of leg weakness causing premature culling in breeding sows and develops in a short time frame in young growing gilts. Dietary restriction may have different effects on OC prevalence depending on the age of the gilts. The aim of this study is to investigate age-dependent effects of dietary restriction, ad libitum vs. restricted (80% of ad libitum), on the occurrence of OC in gilts at slaughter (26 wk of age). At weaning (4 wk of age), 211 gilts were subjected to one of 4 treatments of a feeding regime. Gilts were administered either ad libitum feeding from weaning until slaughter (AA); restricted feeding from weaning until slaughter (RR); ad libitum feeding from weaning until 10 wk of age, after which gilts were switched to restricted feeding (AR); or restricted feeding from weaning until 10 wk of age, after which gilts were switched to ad libitum feeding (RA). At slaughter, the elbow, hock, and knee joints were harvested. Joints were scored macroscopically for articular surface deformations indicative of OC. Gilts in the RA treatment had significantly higher odds of being affected by OC than gilts in the RR and AR treatments in the hock joint (OR = 3.3, P = 0.04 and OR = 8.5, P = 0.002, respectively) and at animal level (OR = 2.5, P = 0.001 and OR = 1.9, P = 0.01, respectively). Gilts in the AA treatment had higher odds of being affected by OC than gilts in the AR treatment in the hock joint (OR = 5.3, P = 0.01). The results indicate a possible pathway to reduce the prevalence of OC in breeding gilts that will have to last several parities. Switching from restricted feeding to ad libitum feeding after 10 wk of age increases OC prevalence as opposed to restricted feeding after 10 wk of age.