Water is an absolute requirement in the daily needs of the pig. It has been suggested that when sows have a limited milk production, piglets may not consume enough water which will impact on their hydration. Eighty mixed parity sows of a high prolificacy genetic line were used to evaluate the impact of a flavor added to the drinking water for piglets on the voluntary water intake and performance during nursing phase and first week post-weaning. Sows and their respective litters were distributed in a completely randomized experimental design among the four treatments according to parity order and body weight 24 h post-farrowing. The treatments represented by control where piglets received standard water (T1) and other three levels of flavor inclusion in the water (T2 = 100 ppm; T3 = 200 ppm and T4 = 400 ppm). Piglets were allowed free access to water treatments via a semi-automatic water dispenser from d 3 until weaning (approx. 21 day). At weaning a total of 936 piglets were weighed, selected and distributed in a completely randomized experimental block design among treatments in the nursery pens according to weight (light, moderate and heavy), sex (male and female) and previous lactation treatment. The piglets were housed in the nursery facilities and were continuously offered the same four treatments that were used during the lactation phase until 7-day post-weaning. The flavor added to the drinking water significantly increased the piglets water (P = 0.047) and creep feed (P = 0.001) intake, which impacted positively on piglet average daily gain, and piglet weaning weight during the nursing phase. Treatments also influenced piglets’ nursery voluntary total water (P = 0.0001) and total feed consumption (P = 0.002). Also the piglets’ total average weight gain (P = 0.042), and pen daily gain (P = 0.003) and final weight (P = 0.0001) were influenced by the water flavor. In conclusion, this experiment has demonstrated that the inclusion of flavor compounds in the drinking water of the piglets during nursing and post-weaning phases has the potential to improve piglet performance. Our findings lead us to believe that the strategic use of a water flavor to manipulate the sensorial properties of water is a viable strategy to increase the piglet's voluntary water and feed intake and as a consequence improve litter performance at weaning and during the first week post-weaning all of which can help prepare the animal for the negative effects of the weaning process.

水是猪日常必需品。已经提出，当母猪的产奶量有限时，仔猪可能没有消耗足够的水，这会影响其水合作用。在哺乳期和断奶后第一周，使用80只高产多系杂种母猪评估添加到仔猪饮用水中的风味对自愿摄入水量和生产性能的影响。在分娩后24小时，根据胎次顺序和体重，将母猪和它们各自的窝以完全随机的实验设计分配到这四种处理中。对照所代表的处理方法是，仔猪接受标准水（T1）和水中其他三类风味物质的内含物（T2 = 100 ppm； T3 = 200 ppm和T4 = 400 ppm）。从第3天开始直至仔猪断奶（约21天），通过半自动饮水机使仔猪自由进水。断奶时，根据体重（轻，中，重），性别（雄性和雌性）和以前的泌乳治疗，对936只仔猪进行称重，选择并以完全随机的实验区组设计分配在育苗笔的处理中。仔猪被安置在苗圃中，并持续提供与哺乳期直至断奶后7天相同的四种处理方法。添加到饮用水中的风味剂显着增加了仔猪水（P = 0.047）和creep饲料（P = 0.001）的摄入量，这对仔猪平均日增重和哺乳阶段仔猪断奶体重产生积极影响。处理还影响了仔猪的苗圃自愿总水量（P = 0.0001）和总饲料消耗量（P = 0.002）。此外，仔猪的总平均体重增加（P = 0.042），日增重（P = 0.003）和最终体重（P = 0.0001）也受水味的影响。总之，该实验表明，在哺乳期和断奶后阶段，在仔猪的饮用水中添加风味化合物具有改善仔猪生产性能的潜力。我们的发现使我们相信，战略性地使用水味来控制水的感官特性是增加仔猪的可行策略。