Étude du comportement alimentaire des truies en gestation : Mise en relation avec les performances de production en lactation

Indicative plan: This study is divided in four parts. The first one attains to present missions of INRA, to remind the topic and stakes linked to the question, to show what’s we already know about the subject and what still need to be discovered. The second part explains the breeding condition of sows, the sorting method and the data analysis. The third one present the results and the last part is devoted to the discussion. Purpose of the study: Pregnant sows are now raised in groups. Since then, an augmentation of aggressions and injuries have been noticed which consequence is the diminution of lactation performances. To avoid this, lots of studies reach to explore global behavior of sows raised in group. Feeding behavior is part of this global activity but it is still not well-described. In parallel, we know that formation of body reserves are depends of sow’s global activity. Those body reserves have to be sizable for being widely mobilized in the lactation period and ensure piglets survival and growth. The goal of this study is to search for correlations between feeding behavior in gestation associated with reconstruction of fat reserves during gestation, and production performances of sows during the lactation period. Techniques and methods: Sows involved in this study are Large White and are part of a population bred in Genesi experimental unit old by INRA and located in Magneraud (17) in France. There rank of litters differ from 1 to 6. All data editing, sorting and analysis were done with the R software. Graphs representation were realized with Excel. Results: We have been able to approve that pregnant sows tend to eat all their allowance in one single meal per day. The feeding time in average is 14 minutes and 33 second per day, which is almost 24 hours during the 97days spend in the gestation room. Sows use to eat in the 4 hours after the ESF opening. We have been able to identify model which describe the variable of the feeding behavior. Those models are affected by several effects which are describe in part three. Phenotypical correlations between feeding behavior variable and zootechnical performance variable have been calculated. Finally, kinetics of feeding behavior during gestation period have been draw. Conclusion: This study shows that phenotypical correlation between feeding correlation and zootechnical performances in lactation exists. For instance, sows which are used to eat slowly have better performance in lactation period.