Mammary gland biopsy does not affect lactation performance in sows Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • To determine morphological and molecular characteristics of porcine mammary tissue in vivo, mammary tissue was collected from 18 sows at 3 to 6 d of lactation and 17 to 19 d of lactation using a biopsy technique. The success of the technique was determined by monitoring lactation performance, as evidenced by sow rectal temperature, voluntary feed intake, milk somatic cell count, and piglet average daily gain. Up to 1.7 g of mammary tissue was collected at each biopsy without decreasing sow feed intake or piglet growth. Key words: Biopsy, mammary gland, lactation, sow

publication date

  • 2007

number of pages

  • 3

start page

  • 281

end page

  • 284

volume

  • 87

issue

  • 2