Primiparous sows that farrowed on a commercial farm during late summer in 1980 (n = 65) or late winter in 1981 (n = 62) and lactated 3 to 4 wk were used. Sows were assigned in a factorial experiment to one of two lactation diets (control or 10% fat-supplemented) and one of three periods (0, 2 or 5 d) of early weaning of the heaviest one-half of the litter. Days from weaning to estrus averaged 16.7 +/- 1.5 and 8.7 +/- 1.6 in summer and winter, respectively, and the season X diet interaction was significant for days from weaning to estrus and percentage of sows that exhibited estrus after weaning. In summer, supplementing diets with fat reduced the weaning-to-estrus interval from 20.9 +/- 2.1 to 12.6 +/- 2.1 d and increased percentage of sows in estrus by 10 d postweaning from 34 to 59. In winter, days from weaning to estrus tended to be greater and percentage of sows in estrus by 10 d postweaning tended to be less in sows fed fat-supplemented diets (10.3 +/- 2.5, 74%) than in sows fed control diets (7.1 +/- 2.9, 82%). Over both seasons, weaning one-half the litter 2 d early (2-d group) increased the percentage of sows in estrus by 10 d after weaning (77%) compared with 5-d (58%) or 0-d (51%) groups. Total litter weight at weaning was not affected by season, diet or days with one-half litter. However, piglets of lightest weight remaining on sows two or five extra days gained .09 +/- .03 kg/d more than lightest weight pigs in control (0-d) litters over the same interval. Early weaning of heaviest pigs may improve reproductive performance of primiparous sows in summer and winter, while supplementing lactation diets with fat may improve performance in summer, when weaning-to-estrus interval is longer than in winter.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas1983.56121x | DOI Listing |
Pol J Vet Sci
September 2024
National Diagnostic and Research Veterinary Medical Institute, National Food Safety Center, 15 Pencho Slaveykov blvd, 1606, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Salmonella spp. is an important zoonotic and foodborne pathogen. It is spread worldwide and represents a public health risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Anim Sci
December 2024
Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS USA.
A total of 3,307 (PIC L 42) sows and 55,160 piglets were used to determine the effects of different farrowing systems on piglet livability and lifetime growth performance. Treatments were assigned to farrowing rooms and consisted of a conventional farrowing system (sows and piglets housed in individual farrowing stalls) or a pre-weaning socialization system (stall dividers removed between farrowing stalls and walkways within 6 to 24 h post-farrowing such that 12 to 32 litters of piglets were co-mingled). A total of 40 farrowing rooms with 80 stalls each were used with 20 rooms per treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Res
December 2024
Animal Breeding and Genetics Program, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), Caldes de Montbui, Spain.
Breeding animals to produce more robust and disease-resistant pig populations becomes a complementary strategy to the more conventional methods of biosecurity and vaccination. The objective of this study was to explore the ability of a panel of genetic markers and immunity parameters to predict the survival rates during a natural PRRSV outbreak. Ten-week-old female Duroc pigs (n = 129), obtained from 61 sows and 20 boars, were naturally infected with a highly pathogenic PRRSV genotype 1 strain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
December 2024
College of Agricultural Engineering, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China.
Controlling the backfat thickness of sows within an appropriate range during different production stages helps to increase the number of pigs weaned per sow per year and ultimately enhances the economic benefit to the pig farm. To obtain the backfat thickness of sows automatically, a backfat thickness estimation method based on machine vision is proposed. First, the backfat thickness values and 3D images of the buttocks of 154 Landrace-Yorkshire crossbred sows were obtained using a veterinary ultrasound backfat meter and Azure Kinect DK camera.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransl Anim Sci
October 2024
Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, Carthage Veterinary Service Ltd., Carthage, IL 62321, USA.
Farrowing durations that exceed 240 min cause stillborn rates to increase. Therefore, feeding strategies in late gestation have been studied to mitigate the negative consequences of extended farrowing durations. A total of 1,501 sows (PIC 1050 Camborough) were used for this study at two individual farms near Carthage, IL.
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