Abstract
Simple SummaryLitter size is an important economic trait in pigs. Improving the number born alive is an important breeding goal of the pig husbandry. A shorter farrowing duration is welcome for facilitating the management and sows’ health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the effect of litter size and parity on farrowing duration, to determine whether a shorter length of farrowing duration could be considered as a breeding parameter in pig breeding. Our results showed the total number born had no significant relation with farrowing duration, but number of stillbirths increased with the prolongation of farrowing duration and decrease of live litter size if farrowing duration was longer than 240–300 min. Different parities sows had little difference in the same farrowing duration interval except for gilts. A shorter farrowing duration within 300 min might be considered in pig breeding without worrying about the decreasing of live litter size or the negative effect of parity.Litter size has increased and farrowing duration has also prolonged in recent years. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of litter size and parity on farrowing duration (FAR) to estimate the possibility of selecting a short farrowing duration. We recorded 32,200 parturitions of 8420 Landrace × Yorkshire sows, determined farrowing duration, litter size, parity, gestation length. Results showed that total number of born (TNB) and parity obeyed a cubic (p = 0.0004, p = 0.004) relationship while number born alive (NBA) and number born dead (NBD) obeyed a linear (p = 0.0239, p = 0.0035) relationship with FAR. Gestation length obeyed a linear (p = 0.02) relationship with FAR. FAR of sows with stillbirth was longer than that of sows without stillbirth. Stillbirth rate increased rapidly from about 2% to 4%, especially when FAR was over 240 min. FAR gradually prolonged with the parities. FAR of 7th parity sows was longer than that of 1st~6th parity sows (p < 0.05), but different parity sows had little difference in the same FAR interval except for gilts. Results indicated it was possible and necessary to consider FAR into pig breeding without worrying about decreasing of live litter size or negative effect of parity if FAR was shorter than 300 min.
Highlights
Reproductive traits are the most important concepts in determining the output of a pig farms
A total of 32,200 parturitions of 8420 Landrace × Yorkshire hybrid sows were included in the following analysis: 3451 assistant delivery parturitions (10.7%)
In this study, we investigated the influence of litter size including total number of born (TNB), number born alive (NBA) and number born dead (NBD) on farrowing duration (FAR) and the impact of parity on both FAR and litter size using a large scale of farrowing data in order to look into whether it was reasonable to consider a shorter FAR as one of the breeding parameters in pigs in the further
Summary
Reproductive traits are the most important concepts in determining the output of a pig farms. Litter size is an important reproductive trait, and it is one of the decisive factors affecting the economic benefits of the entire pig industry. Larger litter size may lead to a longer farrowing duration (FAR). It has been suggested that large litter size can lead to the increase of stillbirth rate, which is likely to bring significant negative impact on animal welfare [5]. Farrowing is known to be a stressful process of both piglets and sows, and a longer duration of farrowing process often requires extra care from nursing staff and sometimes impairs the uterus health of sows, which would bring certain difficulties in management and even a fertility reduction of sows during the parturition. Many stillbirths occur during parturition due to dystocia and prolong farrowing
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
