Reproduction and reproductive tract morphology of male and female pigs whose mothers were heat stressed during the second month of gestation.

The primary objective was to assess the development of fetal gonads and measure the subsequent reproductive capacity of boars and gilts whose mother was either subjected to gestational heat stress (GHS) or thermoneutral (GTN; control) conditions during pregnancy. Gilts were subjected to either GHS (28 to 38 °C; 65% to 88% relative humidity [RH]; n = 30) or GTN (17 to 22 °C; 56% to 65% RH; n = 29) for the second month of gestation (a period that coincides with a critical window of gonadal development). A subset of GHS (n = 12) and GTN (n = 11) gilts was sacrificed immediately following treatment for the collection of pregnancy data.