Cinnamon oil supplementation of the lactation diet improves feed intake of multiparous sows and reduces pre-weaning piglet mortality in a tropical environment

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effect of cinnamon oil supplementation of the lactation diet on sows’ daily feed intake, milk production, and pre-weaning piglet performance and mortality. A total of 85 crossbred Landrace × Yorkshire sows were distributed in two groups: i) control: sows (n = 43) received a conventional lactation diet; and ii) treatment: sows (n = 42) received the same lactation diet but supplemented with 1.0 g cinnamon oil per kilogram of feed. The feeding schedule started from 109 days of gestation and continued during lactation until weaning at 25.2 ± 2.6 days after parturition. The sow parameters recorded during the study were daily feed intake, milk production and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, and wean-to-first service interval (WSI). The piglet parameters were body weight at 1, 3, 7, 10 and 21 days of age; litter weight gain; serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) and pre-weaning mortality rate. On average, the sows’ daily feed intake was 5.79 ± 2.22 kg and varied among sows from 0 to 10 kg. Mean daily feed intake during lactation of sows on the control diet (5.66 ± 0.18 kg) did not differ with parity, but dietary supplementation with cinnamon oil increased feed intake in multiparous sows (6.20 ± 0.21 versus 5.66 ± 0.20 kg, P = 0.060) but not in primiparous sows (5.13 ± 0.33 versus 5.56 ± 0.33 kg, P = 0.359). There was no effect of the cinnamon oil supplementation on milk production and piglet performance. The average daily weight gain (238.9 ± 7.3 versus 241.1 ± 7.2 g/day) and serum IGF-1 (110.7 ± 8.6 versus 114.9 ± 7.6 ng/ml) of the piglets did not differ significantly between control and treatment groups, respectively (P > 0.05). Across groups, the sows’ milk yield at 3–10 and 10–17 days of lactation was 8.22 ± 1.29 and 10.40 ± 2.12 kg, respectively (P