PSI-9 Factors associated with birthing interval and total farrowing duration in sows and gilts within a production setting

Abstract

Abstract Common sow barn protocol is to provide farrowing assistance (i.e. sleeving) when 20 min has elapsed since the previous piglet to reduce the incidence of stillbirths with limited consideration for parity, litter size or sow energy status. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of litter size, birth order, parity, and feed intake before farrowing on total farrowing duration and birthing interval. Farrowing duration and piglet birth interval were measured in 80 farrowings (PIC 1050 gilts and multiparous). Farrowing was supervised by trained technicians 24 h/d starting at d114 of gestation. The time of each piglet birth was documented, and the total farrowing duration was determined as the time elapsed between the birth of the first and last piglet. Sleeving protocol used when 60 min had elapsed since the previous piglet, oxytocin provided when farrowing was deemed complete to aid in milk let down. Information from the electronic lactation feeding system was used to characterize the feed intake pattern of sows before farrowing. Data was analyzed by PROC MIXED procedure (SAS Inst., Inc., Cary, NC). The overall rate of stillbirths was 8.3%. Sows with litters >14 piglets had shorter birthing interval than sows with litters < 14 piglets (P < .0001) resulting in 9 min shorter total farrowing with larger litter sizes (Table 1). Order of birth affected birth interval (P = 0.014), where piglets of order 1 to 4 had the longest birth interval and orders 9 to 12 shortest. Sow feed intake prior to farrowing and parity did not affect total farrowing duration or birthing interval; however, farrowing duration of mid parity sows was 30 to 50 min shorter than young and older females. Sow barn farrowing care protocols may need to be revised considering sow parity and number of piglets born.