ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of betaine and superdosed
phytase on boar reproduction during mild heat stress. Twenty-seven mature (36 wk old),
crossbred boars [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] were randomly allocated to treatment
and were fed 2.6 kg/d of 1 of 3 corn, soybean meal diets: control (CNT; 250 phytase
units/kg Escherichia coli phytase; n = 9), betaine (BET; 250 phytase units/kg E. coli phytase and 0.6% betaine; n = 9), and betaine and superdosed phytase (BP; 2,500 phytase
units/kg E. coli phytase and 0.6% betaine; n = 9). The experiment was split into 4 environmental phases
(4 wk/phase) consisting of pre-heat stress (26°C), heat stress (30.2°C), post-heat
stress 1 (16.7°C), and post-heat stress 2 (17.5°C). Semen was collected weekly from
each boar and was evaluated for semen quantity and quality parameters. Total motility,
progressive motility and percentage of morphologically normal sperm were reduced in
the heat stress period (P < 0.01) with no effects from the dietary treatments (P ≥ 0.27). Total sperm did not differ among treatments (P = 0.99). Percent distal droplets increased from the pre-heat stress to heat stress
period for CNT (P < 0.01), but the increase was not statistically different for BET (P = 0.97) or BP (P = 1.00). This suggests that supplementation with betaine alone or with phytase may
potentially reduce the effects of heat stress on specific morphological abnormalities,
though total normal morphology did not differ.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 15,
2018
Received:
March 16,
2018
Footnotes
One author works for AB Vista, the company which provided the betaine and phytase supplements for the project. This author did not contribute to study design, data collection, or data interpretation. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2018, American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. All rights reserved.
