Animal Nutrition & Health
Vitamin D3 is an essential nutrient required for normal growth and development of pigs and other mammals, with emphasis classically placed on its importance for maintenance of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) homeostasis and bone mineralization. With the continuing recognition that there are economic losses and welfare concerns resulting from cases of lameness and metabolic bone diseases in swine, there has been increased research to improve the understanding of requirements for vitamin D, Ca, and P to optimize the bone health and performance of modern genotypes. This is particularly important because either deficiencies or over-feeding of certain nutrients (ie, phosphorus) can be costly, especially when considering the implications for efficiency and sustainability.
Research in the last decades has revealed that vitamin D is essential for physiological functions “beyond bone” and displays important functions for reproduction, cellular development, and immune system function, to name a few. From an evolutionary perspective, significant amounts of vitamin D are obtained from exposure to sunlight and vitamin D photosynthesis in the skin. Pigs that are housed indoors, especially younger animals, are frequently found to have a low vitamin D status when compared to pigs housed outdoors during summer conditions, even when receiving “typical” levels of vitamin D3 supplementation in the diet.
In this brief review, a summary of the latest research is provided to support recommendations for achieving an optimum vitamin D status for modern, lean genotypes housed indoors; and the benefits of dietary supplementation using 25-OH-D3 from Hy·D® to safely achieve healthy plasma levels of 60-90 ng/mL of 25-OH-D3 are demonstrated.
