An assessment of reproductive and lifetime performances of Kagoshima Berkshire gilts and sows

Abstract

We investigated the reproductive and lifetime performances of Kagoshima Berkshire gilts and sows. We examined 20 605 parity records of 4419 pigs for 2008 to 2012 on a farrow-to-finish commercial farm. The mean parity (± SD) of all animals was 3.0 ± 2.1. For farrowing performance, the highest numbers of total pigs born and pigs born alive were found in sows with parities 5 and 6 and with parity 3-6, respectively (P < 0.05). Regarding weaning and mating performance, sows with parity 2 had the lowest preweaning mortality (P < 0.05). The longest weaning-to-first-mating interval was found in parity 1 pigs, and the interval decreased as parity increased (P < 0.05). Parities 0 and 1 pigs had the lowest farrowing rate and those with parity 4 had the highest farrowing rate (P < 0.05). The mean parity at culling, total number of pigs born alive in a lifetime, and nonproductive days in a lifetime were 5.5 ± 2.93, 49.2 ± 24.72 pigs, and 132.1 ± 83.34 days, respectively. These animals had a lower litter size and fertility that the F1 crossbred sows mainly used in Japan, but a similar tendency for performance by parity.

Lifetime and per year productivity of sows in four pig farms in the tropics of Mexico

“…Therefore, it is important to consider the appropriate and optimal age at first farrowing and the weight and body condition for better reproductive performance in the next parities. The highest lifetime and per year productivity means for sow culled for old age and lowest productivity was obtained in the sows culled by miscellaneous and reproductive reasons, which agrees with the results of other authors Knauer et al 2012;Sasaki et al 2014;Ulguim et al 2014). This probably points to the fact that sows removed for reasons of old age had more parities, stay longer in the herd, and had the lowest non-productive days compared with sows culled by other reasons.…”

“…It has been reported that sows that farrow the first time at an older age had lower LBA, NPF/Y, LPW, and NPW/Y (Le Cozler et al 1998;Babot et al 2003;Saito et al 2011;Koonawootrittriron et al 2012;Sasaki et al 2014). In Japan, Saito et al (2011) reported higher LBA and NPF/Y means in sows first service at 188-208 and 209-229 days of age (approximately 303-323 and 324-344 days of age of first farrowing, in this study), with 54.8 and 54.5 LBA, and 18.5 and 18.2 NPF/Y, respectively.…”

“…This probably points to the fact that sows removed for reasons of old age had more parities, stay longer in the herd, and had the lowest non-productive days compared with sows culled by other reasons. In addition, sows removed by reproductive and miscellaneous reasons are culled at a young age (with low parities) and had the least lifetime for production and the most number of unproductive days (Lucia et al 2000;Saballo et al 2007;Sasaki et al 2014). This supports previous findings (SeguraCorrea et al 2011b) that the main reasons for culling of sows in south-eastern Mexico are for reproductive and advanced in age reasons.…”

“…In the USA, the production of at least 55 piglets weaned by productive life of the sow is considered a goal (Sporke 2009). Differences in the lifetime productivity of sows have been associated with the effect of season of the year, age at first farrowing, litter size at first farrowing, reasons of culling, breed, herd size, and herd management (Koonawootrittriron et al 2012;Sobczynska et al 2013;Sasaki et al 2014). Most of the studies on the effect of environmental factors on lifetime productivity of sows have been carried out under temperate conditions and few of them under tropical scenarios (López and Galíndez 2011a, b;Koonawootrittriron et al 2012;Noppibool et al 2013).…”

“…Most of the studies on the effect of environmental factors on lifetime productivity of sows have been carried out under temperate conditions and few of them under tropical scenarios (López and Galíndez 2011a, b;Koonawootrittriron et al 2012;Noppibool et al 2013). It is known that sows farrowing at an early age had a higher lifetime and per year productivity at farrowing and at weaning than sows farrowing at an older age Koonawootrittriron et al 2012;Sasaki et al 2014). However, some studies report the lack of significant effect of age at first farrowing on lifetime productivity (López and Galíndez 2011a, b;Noppibool et al 2013).…”