Influence of technological factors on the reproductive performance of sows in an industrial breeder

Abstract

The most important element of pork production technology is herd reproduction. Among all reproductive qualities of sows, the most important are prolificacy, heavy litter, and preservation of piglets during the suckling period. Therefore, the study of reproductive qualities of pigs is relevant to the theory and practice of pig breeding. The research was carried out under reproductive conditions in an industrial pig breeding complex. It is noted that the greatest increase in sows prolificacy is observed when the service-period is 21-28 days, i.e. when one heat is skipped, as compared to sows with a service-period of 1-7 days, i.e. without heat skipping. The highest farrowing rate was observed in groups of sows without heat skipping, but taking into account the prolificacy, the highest number of piglets was obtained in groups of sows with a service-period of 21-28 days - 33.35-34.70 animals. The survival rate of piglets in all groups of sows was 90.3%. Stillbirth rate was 0.85 heads per sow. Slight variations in this indicator from 0.79 to 0.95 were recorded depending on the service period of the sows. On average the crushed piglets amounted to 0.76 animals per nest. There were slight fluctuations from 0.73 to 0.79 depending on the service-period of the sows. Fetal mummification of fetuses was 0.37 per nest. It is noted that there is a tendency to increase the number of mummified fetuses with increasing service-period of sows. The number of mummified fetuses increases with increasing multiplicity of sows, which was observed in groups of sows with a service period of 21-28 and 45 days or more.