Abstract
The presented study investigated the long-term effects of four different gilt development strategies on sow lifetime performance and longevity. Five hundred Norwegian Landrace x Yorkshire animals were offered two dietary energy levels during rearing: 13.2–29.0 MJ NE/d (High) or 10.6–22.9 MJ NE/d (Norm), and two dietary energy levels during mid-gestation (day 42–94); 27.3 MJ NE/d (High) or 22.3 MJ NE/d (Norm). Dietary treatments were only imposed in parity one. While no clear long-term effect was found on lifetime weight and backfat development, the survivability in lower parities was higher among sows offered the highest dietary energy levels during parity one. These sows also had the numerically highest number of produced piglets per sow lifetime. This study provides insight into how different gilt development strategies influence development and lifetime performance of a modern genotype sow, in a commercial setting.
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