Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of parental genotype and parity number on the litter size properties of sows (number of live born, stillborn and weaned piglets). The investigation was conducted on a farm in Vojvodina. The analysis included 65535 litters that originated from five genotypes of dams (sows with unknown origin, n = 20980; Yorkshire, n = 3189; Landrace, n = 22426; F1(YxL), n = 14251; F1(LxY), n = 4689) and five genotypes of sires (Yorkshire, n = 21641; Landrace, n = 26623; Pietrain, n = 485; Duroc, n = 13463; Hampshire, n = 3323). Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that the genotypes of the dams had statistically significant (p<0.01) influence on the observed litters properties. Landrace sows achieved the highest average number of born alive piglets (10.12) with a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) compared with sows of other genotypes. The observed effect of sire genotype on litter size properties was statistically significant (p<0.01), where the terminal genotypes were superior when it comes to the number of live born and weaned piglets. Regression analysis of dependence between parity and litter size recorded positive regression coefficients: number of live born (b = 0.007), stillborn (b = 0.09) and weaned piglets (b = 0.07). Influence of parity on the observed traits of litter size was highly statistically significant (p<0.01).
Highlights
The aim of contemporary pig production is to improve the most important economic traits
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of parental genotype and parity number on the litter size properties of sows
Knowledge of parent genotype and genetic parameters of reproductive traits is an essential requirement in estimating the breeding value, selection, implementation and select the best method of breeding, because only in this way can the right to genetic improvement of the herd (Irgang et al, 1994)
Summary
The aim of contemporary pig production is to improve the most important economic traits. The most important economic trait in swine production represents reproductive traits such as litter size, litter weight at birth and survival rates of piglets to weaning. The reason for this is the fact that the annual productivity of sows depends solely on litter size and number of parity during the year. Litter size at weaning is one of the most important traits in pig production Direct selection for this trait is generally restricted in practice due to cross-fostering, which makes it difficult to adequately estimate genetic parameters for litter size at weaning
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