Abstract
Abstract The study involved an analysis of the developmental stage of reproductive organs collected at slaughter from 160 gilts (Polish Large White (PLW), n = 80; Polish Landrace (PL), n = 80) at 100 kg body weight. Due to a large variation in slaughter age (140-190 days), three groups of animals were set up: A (less than 160 days), B (160 to 180 days) and C (more than 180 days). PL gilts reached their slaughter weight earlier than PLW gilts (P≤0.05). Uterine weight increased with the age of animals but due to high variability and large deviations from the mean value, statistically significant differences were demonstrated only between gilt groups A and B for both breeds together (120.57 g vs. 148.83 g; P≤0.05). Larger differences related to the age of the gilts were found for cervical length between the groups compared (P≤0.01). The total length of the right and left uterine horns showed a significant increase with age in PLW gilts (P≤0.05). The ratio between uterine weight without ligament and the length of uterine horns (g/cm) was significantly higher in group B than in group A in gilts of both breeds together (P≤0.05), which might indicate thickening of the uterine walls. Uterine capacity was significantly higher in older animals yet due to a large variability of this trait, no significant differences between the groups were shown. The length and diameter of oviducts, the weight of each ovary, their sum and dimensions did not reveal any consistent changes associated with the age or breed of pigs. However, the size of the ovaries determined volumetrically and reported as the volume of ovaries in gilts of both breeds was significantly larger in group B compared with C (P≤0.01). No significant differences related to the studied traits were stated between PLW and PL prepubertal gilts. However, the effect of age on morphometric development of the reproductive system was more pronounced in PLW than in PL gilts.
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