It is established that backfat depth and body condition during late pregnancy and lactation can be manipulated through changes in feed intake (Harker and Cole, 1984). Other work has shown that high level feeding throughout pregnancy is associated with a reduction in voluntary feed intake (e.g. Salmon-Legagneur and Rerat, 1962; Harker and Cole, 1985). However, it remains unclear whether high level feeding during late pregnancy alone has any effect on subseguent voluntary feed intake or changes in liveweight and backfat depth during lactation.

The present experiment was designed to compare the performance and body condition changes of sows fed different levels in late pregnancy followed by a common and relatively high feed level during lactation.