Abstract: The present study was conducted to explore the feeding effects of fermentation products of Chinese herbal residues (FCHR) supplementation in sow diet.Thirty-two Landrace×Large White pregnant sows during 2-6 parities were used and randomly arranged to one of two groups with 16 replicates (pens) per group,representing the control group and experimental group.From Day 90 of pregnancy to postpartum 28 d,the sows in the control group were fed with the basal diet,and those in the experimental group were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.5% FCHR.At the birth day,the alive litter size,dead fetus size and mummy size were recorded,as well as the litter birth weight of piglets.At postpartum 21 d,the body weight of weaned piglets were weighed to calculate weight gain per litter.Backfat thickness of sows were measured at Day 110 of pregnancy and postpartum 21 d,respectively,to calculate the backfat loss.At the birth day and postpartum 21 d,the blood of sows were collected by ear vein into heparin coated-tubes,respectively,to obtain the plasma by centrifuging for analysis of plasma biochemical parameters and anti-oxidant capacity indexes.The results indicated that,compared with the control group,the weight gain per litter of weaned piglets in experiment group tended to increase (P=0.068),as well as the estrus rate of 1 to 7 d post weaning (P>0.05);the plasma activity of ALT and content of MDA at birth day were significantly decreased (P<0.05),while the concentration of UN was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the experimental group;at postpartum 21 d,the plasma activity of AST was significantly decreased (P<0.05),the concentration of UN was significantly increased (P<0.05),and the activity of SOD had a trend to increase (P=0.063) in the experimental group.These findings showed that the fermentation products of Chinese herbal residues improve the reproductive performance and enhance anti-oxidant capacity to some extend,and then increase the weight gain per litter of weaned piglets.

Key words: pregnant sows, fermentation products of Chinese herbal residues, reproductive performance, plasma biochemical parameters, anti-oxidant capacity