Abstract
Background:Population growth led to an increase in the number of people raising pigs, resulting in increased demand for piglets/pigs for breeding and pork for consumption.Aim:This study was carried out to determine the reproductive performance of pigs raised by the intensive management system in Abuja, Nigeria, with a view to assist farmers in ensuring improved productivity and profitability.Materials and Methods:Using an interview-based questionnaire, data from 121 sows and 649 preweaning piglets were collected in 12 herds, from September 2017 to March 2018. Measures of reproductive and production performance assessed in this study were interfarrowing interval (IFI), number of liveborn piglets (NLB), preweaning piglet mortality (PPM), age at weaning (AAW), weaning to service interval (WSI), age at first farrowing (AFF), number of piglets weaned per litter (NPWL), and number of piglets weaned per sow per year (NPWPY).Results:The results obtained in this study were IFI 6.2±0.84 months, NLB 7.2±1.11, PPM 31%, AAW 40.2±3.12 days, NPWL 5.3±0.73, WSI 39.4±4.59 days, AFF 9.1±0.60 months, and NPWPY 8.1±1.21. The identified causes of PPM were maternal overlay 31.34%, splay leg/hypoglycemia 22.39%, cannibalism 20.40%, starvation 14.93%, and unknown cause 10.94%.Conclusion:The result showed that the reproductive performance of the sow (especially, NPWPY and PPM) needs to be improved on. There is a need to promote extension and herd health services by veterinarians and livestock personnel to potential and existing farmers in the area. This is more so because organized pig production in the studied area is relatively new and more people are establishing pig farms in the studied area.
Highlights
In some parts of Nigeria, swine production is an important source of income to livestock farmers
Measures of reproductive and production performance assessed in this study were interfarrowing interval (IFI), number of liveborn piglets (NLB), preweaning piglet mortality (PPM), age at weaning (AAW), weaning to service interval (WSI), age at first farrowing (AFF), number of piglets weaned per litter (NPWL), and number of piglets weaned per sow per year (NPWPY)
The results obtained in this study were IFI 6.2±0.84 months, NLB 7.2±1.11, PPM 31%, AAW 40.2±3.12 days, NPWL 5.3±0.73, WSI 39.4±4.59 days, AFF 9.1±0.60 months, and NPWPY 8.1±1.21
Summary
In some parts of Nigeria, swine production is an important source of income to livestock farmers. Pigs are raised mainly for sale, but there are other reasons why it is kept. This include festivals [1], home consumption, and for financial security [2,3,4]. Measures of production and reproductive performance include number of liveborn piglets (NLB), litter size at weaning, age at weaning (AAW), preweaning mortality, number of piglets weaned per sow per year (NPWPY), interfarrowing interval (IFI), farrowing rate, age at first farrowing, non-productive days, and weaning to conception interval [5,6,7,8,9,10]. Population growth led to an increase in the number of people raising pigs, resulting in increased demand for piglets/pigs for breeding and pork for consumption
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