Abstract
BackgroundThe overall breeding objective for a nucleus swine selection program is to improve crossbred commercial performance. Most genetic improvement programs are based on an assumed high degree of positive relationship between purebred performance in a nucleus herd and their relatives’ crossbred performance in a commercial herd. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between purebred and crossbred sow longevity performance. Sow longevity was defined as a binary trait with a success occurring if a sow remained in the herd for a certain number of parities and including the cumulative number born alive as a measure of reproductive success. Heritabilities, genetic correlations, and phenotypic correlations were estimated using THRGIBBS1F90.ResultsResults indicated little to no genetic correlations between crossbred and purebred reproductive traits. This indicates that selection for longevity or lifetime performance at the nucleus level may not result in improved longevity and lifetime performance at the crossbred level. Early parity performance was highly correlated with lifetime performance indicating that an indicator trait at an early parity could be used to predict lifetime performance. This would allow a sow to have her own record for the selection trait before she has been removed from the herd.ConclusionsResults from this study aid in quantifying the relationship between purebred and crossbred performance and provide information for genetic companies to consider when developing a selection program where the objective is to improve crossbred sow performance. Utilizing crossbred records in a selection program would be the best way to improve crossbred sow productivity.
Highlights
The overall breeding objective for a nucleus swine selection program is to improve crossbred commercial performance
A sow should not be voluntarily culled from the breeding herd as long as she is producing litters with the same number and quality of pigs as the herd average and she does not suffer from welfare issues
Do sows tend to have larger litters compared to gilts [2,3,4], piglets from sow litters tend to have decreased mortality and improved or superior performance throughout the nursery and growfinish phases when compared to piglets from gilt litters [5,6,7]
Summary
The overall breeding objective for a nucleus swine selection program is to improve crossbred commercial performance. Most genetic improvement programs are based on an assumed high degree of positive relationship between purebred performance in a nucleus herd and their relatives’ crossbred performance in a commercial herd. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between purebred and crossbred sow longevity performance. In a commercial swine breeding herd, sow longevity is a contributing factor to the operation’s overall success and profitability. The increased performance of pigs from sow litters compared to pigs from gilt litters is more valuable to the swine operation than the increased litter size from sows compared to gilts. Under maximum genetic gain conditions, a gilt’s genetic advantage is not sufficient to cover the variable costs
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