Ep. #7 | Maternal imprinting: what piglets can get from their mother, with David Saornil

Xixi Chen, Ph.D., expert in animal nutrition, interviews David Saornil, DVM, Product Manager for swine applications at Lallemand Animal Nutrition. In this episode, Saornil explains the concept of maternal imprinting and the positive effects on the piglets when sows are fed with probiotics. Saornil details the long-lasting effects of modulating the sow’s intestinal microbiota and how the application of a probiotic in the sow’s feed can affect piglets’ performance even after weaning.

He explains how the transmission of the microbiota and its establishment in piglets happens during the first weeks of life. He mentions the influence of the sow on the level of stress of the piglet at birth. He also digs into the development of the mucosal immune system and the role of the intestinal microbiota and how a specific probiotic yeast S. cerevisiae boulardii strain can contribute to better immunological protection of the piglet when supplemented to the sow’s diet.

Saornil also reviews the main benefits of using this live yeast in sows: to improve farrowing conditions, sows’ digestive transit, piglet vitality at birth, milk production set-up, valorization of the feed, the resilience of the sows against stress such as heat stress, piglet robustness at weaning; and thus, how probiotic supplementation can contribute to the longevity of the sow, preserving lifetime performance.