Abstract
BackgroundMaintaining optimal reproductive and litter performance is essential for meeting economic targets in commercial pig production. Treatment with exogenous gonadotropins in sows after weaning or in gilts after altrenogest treatment has been used to stimulate follicular development leading to more piglets born and eventually higher birth weights. The effect of peforelin on litter performance was investigated in 212 gilts, primi- and pluriparous sows in three herds. Animals were randomly allocated to three treatments 24 h after weaning: peforelin (P group), eCG (E group), and physiological saline solution (C group). Numbers of total, liveborn and stillborn piglets and mortality rate during lactation were recorded. Birth weights and coefficient of variation in weights within litter were assessed. All parameters were compared among treatments.ResultsOver all parities, no difference was found among treatments in litter size nor mortality rate, but birth weights were significantly lower in the E group. Stillbirth numbers in pluriparous sows were 2.2, 0.9 and 1.4 for P, E and C groups, respectively (p = 0.04). Piglets in the P group had significantly higher live born birth weights in gilts, compared to the E group (1.36, 1.26, 1.32 kg (p < 0.02) for P, E and C group, respectively). No significant differences were found for the other investigated parameters.ConclusionsPeforelin treatment showed no improvement of litter performance compared to no treatment.
Highlights
Maintaining optimal reproductive and litter performance is essential for meeting economic targets in commercial pig production
The only significant difference for back fat measurements was found in the pluriparous sows one month after insemination (BF1), with the sows in the P group having the lowest back fat (16.2 ± 4.1 mm) compared to the sows in the E group (19.7 ± 4.6 mm, p = 0.01)
Litter size was numerically greater in the E group in all parity groups except for the pluriparous sows
Summary
Maintaining optimal reproductive and litter performance is essential for meeting economic targets in commercial pig production. Treatment with exogenous gonadotropins in sows after weaning or in gilts after altrenogest treatment has been used to stimulate follicular development leading to more piglets born and eventually higher birth weights. Follicular stimulation could lead to a better quality of the oocytes and to better embryo viability [4,5,6], subsequently leading to a higher number of piglets born [7] and eventually higher birth weights [8]. GnRH is a key regulator of the growth, Peforelin could positively influence the oocyte quality, ovulation rate, embryonic survival and litter weight. This positive influence on embryonic survival and litter weight was suggested by Jourquin and Goossens (2011) and Vangroenweghe et al (2013) in litters from peforelin treated sows [18, 19]. No comparison was made with another gonadotropin-like product and no data were available on the homogeneity of the litters
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