The importance of optimal body condition to maximise reproductive health and perinatal outcomes in pigs

Muro, Bruno Bracco Donatelli; Carnevale, Rafaella Fernandes; Leal, Diego Feitosa; Almond, Glen W.; Monteiro, Magali; Poor, André Pegoraro; Schinckel, A. P.; Garbossa, César Augusto Pospissil

doi:10.1017/s0954422422000129

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 240 publications

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“…Sows with a lower mean or slope for caliper pre-mating were genetically more likely to have a high number of tail-enders, suggesting maintaining appropriate (higher) sow condition is important to reduce the occurrence of poor quality slaughter progeny. Low body condition in sows is frequently associated with poor intake [ 30 ] and higher litter size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits Defining Sow Lifetime Maternal Performance

Vargović

Harper²,

Bunter

2022

Animals

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Declining sow performance with increasing parity or an increase in the number of poor- quality pigs potentially impacts on farm productivity. This study investigated the phenotypic and genetic background of the sow’s influence on (i) the number of pigs not meeting the industry standards (tail-enders) and (ii) changes in performance with parity. Data were available for 3592 sows and their litters (13,976 litters) from a pig production system in NSW, Australia. The mean, standard deviation (SD), and slope for trait values over time were estimated for the sow characteristic traits: number of born-alive (NBA) and stillborn (SB) piglets and body condition of sow recorded with a caliper (CAL), along with maternal effects on piglet performance, represented by: average piglet birth weight (APBW), number of weaned piglets (WEAN), and tail-enders (TEND). Traits were analyzed in ASReml 4.2, by using an animal model. The number of tail-enders produced by a sow is a heritable trait, with a heritability estimate of 0.14 ± 0.04. Sow characteristics and maternal effects on piglet performance expressed by mean and slope had similar heritability estimates, ranging from 0.10 ± 0.03 to 0.38 ± 0.05, whereas estimates for SD traits were generally not different from zero. The latter suggests individual variability in sow characteristics or maternal performance between parities is largely not genetic in origin. This study demonstrated that more attention is required to identify contributions to the problem of tail-enders, and that slope traits could potentially be useful in the breeding program to maximize lifetime performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits Defining Sow Lifetime Maternal Performance

Vargović

Harper²,

Bunter

2022

Animals

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“…Despite genetic and productivity advances, recent data indicate that sow mortality increased in the last years [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], with rates higher than 10% [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Sow mortality and longevity have a great economic impact and are concerns for animal welfare [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes of Sow Mortality and Risks to Post-Mortem Findings in a Brazilian Intensive Swine Production System

Monteiro

Matias

Poor

et al. 2022

Animals

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The present study was conducted to investigate the risk factors for post-mortem findings and causes of sow mortality. A post-mortem examination and microbiological investigation were conducted on 123 sows from a breeding herd with 15,000 dams. The mortality of spontaneous death in sows occurred mostly in the peripartum period (53%; p < 0.05). The spontaneous deaths were associated with heart failures, hemorrhagic and perforating gastric ulcers, and liver torsion, while in the euthanized sows, the post-mortem findings were associated with locomotor disorders. A higher body condition score (BCS ≥ 3.5) increased (p < 0.05) heart failure on the post-mortem examination. The excessive use of manual obstetric interventions increased sow deaths resulting from cervix/uterus ruptures and increased the odds of death (p < 0.05) due to metritis. Sow mortality had a multifactorial etiology. Infections were polymicrobial. The main microbial agents identified from a septic lesion in locomotor, genitourinary, and respiratory systems were Trueperella pyogenes, Escherichia coli, and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, respectively. In conclusion, sow mortality involved multiple risk factors and several bacterial agents. These results indicate that better management practices can reduce sow mortality in swine production and increase sow welfare.

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“…The group of traits characterizing the reproductive qualities of pigs is no exception. Indices of sows' reproductive ability largely determine the level of overall efficiency of pig breeding technology (Peltoniemi et al, 2019;Stoyanovskyy et al, 2020;Muro et al, 2022). In recent decades, methodological approaches to the evaluation of DNA polymorphisms have made it possible to significantly accelerate the speed of selection in pig breeding (Rexroad et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2021;Dilger et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of the ryanodine receptor gene on the reproductive traits of Welsh sows

Zhukorskyi¹,

Tsereniuk

Vashchenko

et al. 2022

Regul. Mech. Biosyst.

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The reproductive performance of sows largely determines the efficiency of the entire pig farming industry. The purpose of our work is the evaluation of polymorphism of the ryanodine receptor gene and its impact on the reproductive traits of sows of the Welsh breed of pigs. For this study, 148 pigs of the Welsh breed were used. The reproductive traits of sows were evaluated in two adjacent generations. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the reproductive ability of sows using the SIRQS (selection index of reproductive qualities of sows), determined phenotypic consolidation coefficients and assessed the genetic potential of the animals’ productivity. The polymorphism of the RYR1 gene was determined using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PCR-RFLP). Data processing was performed using single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA). Polymorphism of the ryanodine receptor gene in sows of the Welsh pig breed was evaluated. 8.0% of the animals were identified as carriers of the mutant allele of the RYR1 gene. However, no homozygous RYR1-nn animals were found. Pigs of the maternal generation carrying the homozygous NN genotype had better reproductive performance in all indicators. Sows that were carriers of the mutant allele were characterized by lower values of the genetic productivity potential compared with the entire estimated population for all productive traits. Sows which were free of the mutant allele of the RYR1 gene were characterized by large values of the SIRQS index. The values of the coefficients of phenotypic consolidation of the number of live born piglets in sows without the mutant allele were lower than in sows with the mutant allele n. Better performance of sows free of the mutant allele of the RYR1 gene was established over sows carrying it in all evaluated traits of reproductive capacity (for different traits P ranged from 0.021 to 1.0*10–4), except for number of piglets born alive per sow in the daughter generation. Sows with the NN genotype had better selection index values by 15.7% in the maternal generation and by 10.2% in the daughter generation. In order to increase the reproductive ability of sows in the studied population of Welsh pigs and achieve similar results in other herds of this breed, animals free from the mutant allele of the RYR1 gene should be selected for further reproduction in the process of breeding, while on the contrary, carriers of this gene should be gradually eliminated from the herd. To carry out breeding work, further research is needed on the entire population of Welsh pigs for the RYR1 gene.

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The importance of optimal body condition to maximise reproductive health and perinatal outcomes in pigs

Cited by 7 publications

References 240 publications

Traits Defining Sow Lifetime Maternal Performance

Traits Defining Sow Lifetime Maternal Performance

Causes of Sow Mortality and Risks to Post-Mortem Findings in a Brazilian Intensive Swine Production System

The effect of the ryanodine receptor gene on the reproductive traits of Welsh sows

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