Maintaining a diverse and balanced sow milk microbiome is essential to piglet development. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effects of probiotic Bacillus licheniformis supplementation on the microbiome composition of sow colostrum and milk, and to review associated health findings in piglets. B. licheniformis DSMZ 28710 was supplemented at 10 g/day as feed additive before predicted farrowing until weaning by top dressing. Colostrum and milk samples were collected for metagenomic DNA extraction, 16s rRNA sequencing, and bioinformatics analyses for bacterial microbiota diversity. Results indicated that the supplementation increased the abundances of beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Bacteroides, and Bifidobacterium, while decreasing the abundances of pathogenic bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, and Campylobacter in the colostrum. The supplementation increased diversity while maintaining richness and evenness. Moreover, the rise in predicted microbial community metabolic function in membrane transport pathways provides crucial evidence showing that the supplementation is potentially beneficial to piglets, as these pathways are important for providing nutrients and immunity to offspring. This research highlights the importance of microbiome composition in sow milk and the potential of B. licheniformis supplementation as a means to improve piglet health and development.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of lactation stage and parity number on fatty acid and non-volatile polar metabolite profiles in sow colostrum and milk using a metabolomics approach. A total number of 63 colostrum, transient and mature milk were collected from primiparous and multiparous Landrace × Yorkshire crossbred sows. Macrochemical, fatty acid and non-volatile polar metabolite compositions of samples were analyzed using infrared spectrometry, gas chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis demonstrated significant impacts of lactation stage and parity number on colostrum and milk compositions. Chemometric analysis revealed significant influences of sow parity on the distinction in fatty acid profiles of mature milk while the distinction in non-volatile polar metabolite profiles was more evident in colostrum. Alterations in the concentration of linoleic (C18:2n6), lignoceric (C24:0), behenic (C22:0), caprylic (C8:0) and myristoleic (C14:1) acid together with those of creatine, creatinine phosphate, glutamate and glycolate were statistically suggested to be mainly affected by sow parity number. Variations in the concentration of these compounds reflected the physiological function of sow mammary gland influenced. This information could be applied for feed and feeding strategies in lactating sows and improving lactating performances.