Abstract
Abstract Because of climate change, annual average temperatures are gradually rising. Hence, increasing heat stress can impair the litter traits of Taiwanese sows located in tropical and subtropical zones. However, some pregnancy stages may be impacted more by heat stress than other periods. Thus, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) in different pregnancy stages on total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), and stillborn rate (STB). Data were collected in two Taiwanese farms from 2008 to 2021 for TNB, NBA, and STB, while weather data were collected from the closest respective weather station. There were 4,247 and 6,812 pure line Landrace record from farm 1 and farm 2, respectively. Pregnancy stages included 28 d before mating (BEFORE), mating to 30 d of pregnancy (EARLY), 31 to 70 d of pregnancy (MIDDLE), and 71 d of pregnancy to farrowing (LATE). Average THI was calculated in each pregnancy stage and regression coefficients were estimated by linear mixed models within ASReml. A two-trait analysis was used to estimate regression coefficients and genetic correlations among TNB, NBA, and STB. Results showed THI impacted (P < 0.05) TNB and NBA BEFORE and EARLY, while THI influenced (P < 0.05) STB EARLY and MIDDLE. Regression coefficients for TNB were -0.0069 and -0.0228 for BEFORE and EARLY, respectively. For NBA, regression coefficients were 0.0106 and -0.0391 for BEFORE and EARLY, respectively. Regression coefficients for STB were -0.0651 and 0.1332 for EARLY and MIDDLE, respectively. Heritability estimates for TNB, NBA, and STB were 0.168, 0.113, and 0.069, respectively. Genetic correlations between TNB with NBA and STB were 0.913 and 0.539, respectively. While the genetic correlation between NBA and STB was 0.158. In conclusion, THI impacted BEFORE and EARLY stages for TNB and NBA, while the stages of EARLY and MIDDLE were impacted by THI for STB. Hence, control of the environments in these specific stages for sows could improve the performance of litter traits.
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