The Effects of Tallow Addition to the Diets of Lactating Sows on Hormone and Metabolite Concentrations

University of Nebraska 1996 Swine Day Report. The metabolic responses of sows fed a corn-soybean meal or a cornsoybean meal-10% tallow diet were measured. The addition of tallow to lactating sows diets had no effect on feed or energy intake. In addition, there were no effects on the concentrations of glucose, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), insulin, or glucagon. No differences in either the time spent consuming feed or the number of meals consumed were observed. Finally, no linear association between eating time and area under the curve for insulin was observed for sows consuming either diet. These results show the addition of tallow to lactation diets does not affect the concentrations of glucose, NEFA, insulin or glucagon in the fed state.