Nutritional approaches to arresting the decline in fertility of pigs and poultry: Proceedings from Alltech's Technical Seminar Series

"Continued genetic development of pigs and poultry has been the foundation of profitable production within a competitive market. However, the challenges of these production increases have undoubtedly taken their toll on reproductive function in all breeding livestock, with the incidence of infertility increasing at an alarming rate. For example, it has recently been estimated that over 40% of sows are culled due to fertility problems, compared to just 12% with feet and leg issues. This edited collection of papers is taken from a series of seminars, devoted to bringing together some of the world’s leading authorities in the field of pig and poultry reproduction. The fundamental aim being to re-examine the current trends in productivity in the pig and poultry industries, and to identify nutritional means to improve fertility. It considers the effects of essential nutrients in optimising productivity, and discusses innovative applications of nutrition that will help to enhance fertility. The success of such innovations within entrepreneurial integrated systems is also covered, together with the importance of producing a quality chick and piglet at birth/hatching. Finally, the role of management and the need for least cost production is discussed. Nutritional Approaches to Arresting the decline in Fertility of Pigs and Poultry is aimed at nutritionists and animal producers as well as students and researchers studying animal and applied biological sciences."

Table of Contents:
Nutrigenomics in pig and poultry production: Feeding the genes for fertility 13; Karl A. Dawson; 1. Introduction 13; 2. Using genomic information to understand fertility 13; 3. Oligonucleotide microarrays as a tool for examining gene regulation in swine 15; 4. Examining fertility issues using gene expression 18; 5. Nutrigenomics 18; 6. Effects of selenium on gene expression 19; 7. Vision of the future 22; References 23; Recent advances in sow reproductive function 25; Merlin Lindemann and B. G. Kim; 1. Introduction 25; 2. A perspective on sow nutritional requirement estimates 26; 3. A case in point - copper 30; 4. Feeding management 31; 5. Conclusion 34; References 34; Organic or inorganic selenium for hyperovulatory first-parity sows? Antioxidant status, hormonal response, embryo development and reproductive performance 35; Marie-Eve Fortier and J. Jacques Matte; 1. Introduction 35; 2. Long-term effects on selenium-related metabolites 38; 3. Short-term effects on selenium-related metabolites and hormone status during the peri-oestral period (canulated animals) 42; 4. Reproduction performance on day 30 of gestation 44; 5. Conclusion 48; Acknowledgments 49; References 50. Piglets survival: importance for efficient productivity 53; Jean Le Dividich and John Rooke; 1. Introduction 53; 2. Peri-natal mortality 53; 3. Understanding piglet mortality 55; 4. Importance of colostrum for the piglet's survival 57; 5. Concluding remarks 65; References 65; Nutritional management of reproduction 73; David Henman; 1. Introduction 73; 2. Where are we and what do we aim at? 74; 3. Targets for gilt preparation 76; 4. Gestation feeding 78; 5. Lactation feeding 82; 6. Longevity 84; 7. Mineral needs for reproduction 87; 8. Current thinking on organic minerals 89; References 89; Further reading 90; The role of the boar in maximising reproduction: effects of nutrition and management 93; W.H. Close; 1. Introduction 93; 2. Reproduction in the boar 93; 3. The rearing period 94; 4. Nutrition of the breeding boar 95; 5. Mineral and vitamin requirements 100; 6. Feed quality 106; 7. Water requirement 107; 8. Effects of environmental temperature 108; 9. The effects of stockmanship 110; 10. Conclusions 111; References 112. Recent developments of fertility in turkeys 117; Jean-Pierre Brillard; 1. Introduction 117; 2. Environmental conditions to sustain fertility in breeder flocks 117; 3. Accessing and preserving sperm with a high fertilizing potential 119; 4. Sperm-egg interactions: an in vitro approach to better assess fertility in vivo 123; 5. Conclusion 123; References 124; Examining the impact of nutrition on the fertility of broiler breeders 127; Robert A. Renema and Frank E. Robinson; 1. Growth selection and reproduction in broiler breeders 127; 2. Reproduction in the broiler breeder 128; 3. Fertility 129; 4. Factors affecting egg size and 130; 5. Impact of hatching egg quality on hatchability 132; 6. Optimizing nutrition for the hatching egg 134; 7. Maintaining male fertility 136; 8. Study of selenium source in broiler breeders 137; 9. Conclusions 141; References 142; Broiler breeder nutrition and management: What's new? 147; Rob Gous; 1. Introduction 147; 2. Management of breeders during the rearing period 148; 3. The effect of constant and changing daylengths on age at maturity 149; 4. Lighting treatments in the laying period 155; 5. Crystalline amino acid usage in broiler breeders 158; 6. Calcium intake in the rearing period and shell quality 159; 7. Concluding remarks 159; References 160. Nutrition of the newly hatched chick: An opportunity to maximize broiler performance? 163; Yael Noy; 1. Introduction 163; 2. Yolk utilization 163; 3. Gastro-intestinal development 165; 4. Functional development 167; 5. Small intestinal absorption 169; 6. Effect of early access to feed 170; 7. Conclusions 172; References 173; Striving for a feed conversion ratio of 1.00 - The challenges we need to overcome 177; Park W. Waldroup; 1. Development of the poultry industry 177; 2. What does the future hold? 178; 3. The four factors to work on 178; 4. Conclusion 183; References 184; Keyword index 187.