Live weight and livability of piglets received from sows with different duration of open days period and lactation

Abstract

The most important element of pork production technology is the reproduction of the herd. Among all the reproductive traits of sows, there is a special emphasis on the heavy litter or live weight of piglets at birth, which largely determines the growth rate of young animals in further age periods. The livability of piglets ultimately determines how many young pigs will come to fattening and how much pork will be obtained. Therefore, the study of the reproductive traits of pigs is relevant for the theory and practice of pig breeding. The researches have been carried out under the environments of the reproductor of an industrial pig breeding complex, where the infl uence of the duration of the days open period and lactation of sows (suckling period) on their heavy litter and livability of piglets has been studied. The most signifi cant increase in sow fertility has been found, depending on the length of the days open period, when only one heat was missed. In the group of sows when weaning piglets at the age of 18, 21 and 24 days and the duration of the days open period of 21–28 days, the heavy litter was 0,054–0,197 kg more than when using sows with the days open period of 1–7 days. When inseminating sows with the days open period of 45 days or more compared to the group of sows with the days open period of 21–28 days, the increase in their heavy litter has not been observed. For example, the average heavy litter in the group of sows with the days open period of 45 days or more was 0,06 kg less than in sows with the days open period of 21–28 days. On average the groups of sows during insemination in the second heat after weaning piglets have shown the increase in heavy litter and livability of piglets compared to the group of sows without missing the heat. Sows inseminated in the second heat with the days open period of 21–28 days increased by 0.106 kg (P < 0,001) compared to the group of sows without heat missing. The researches have shown the increase in the livability of piglets in the groups of sows with the days open period of 21–24 and 45 days by more than 0,7–2,2 %, compared with the group of sows with the days open period of 1–7 days.