›› 2019, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (5): 1397-1404.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2019.05.017

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Backfat Thickness During Pregnancy on Farrowing Duration and Reproductive Performance of Sows

ZHAO Yunxiang1,3, YANG Wenpan3, TAO Rongjia1, LI Zhenyang1, ZHANG Conglin3, LIU Xiaohong2, CHEN Yaosheng2   

  1. 1. College of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, China;
    2. College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China;
    3. Guangxi Yangxiang Agriculture and Husbandry Co., Ltd., Guigang, 537100, China
  • Received:2018-10-05 Online:2019-05-20 Published:2019-05-20

Abstract:

In order to optimize the reproductive efficiency of sows and explore the effects of backfat thickness during pregnancy on the sow's farrowing duration and reproductive performance,the data from 2 969 Large White sows and 1 787 Landrace sows,including backfat thickness,farrowing duration,total litter size,alive litter size and litter weight of the three stages of sow gestation (30,80 and 107 d of gestation) in January 2017 to October 2017 were collected.The results showed that the farrowing duration of Large White sows was significantly lower than that of Landrance sows (P<0.05).The total litter size,alive litter size and birth weight of Large White sows were significantly higher than that of Landrance sows(P<0.05).At 30 days of gestation,with the backfat thickness of 18-20 mm in Large White sows,the total litter size,alive litter size and the litter weight were the highest;For the backfat thickness of 18-20 mm in Landrace sows,the total litter size and alive litter size was the biggest.At the 80 days of gestation,when the backfat thickness was more than 20 mm in Large White sows,the total litter size,alive litter size and litter weight were the biggest,and the sows had the shortest farrowing duration;For the backfat thickness of 16-18 mm in Landrace sows,the total litter size,alive litter size and the litter weight were the biggest,and the farrowing duration was shorter.At 107 days of gestation,the backfat thickness of 14-16 mm in Large White sows,the total litter size,alive litter size and the litter weight were the biggest,and farrowing duration was not significantly different from the other groups (P>0.05);While for the back fat thickness of ≥ 20 mm in Landrace sows,the total litter size and alive litter size were the biggest,and the litter weight was larger.From 30 days to 107 days of pregnancy,for Large White sows with backfat thickness reduced by 1-2 mm,the total number of litters and alive litter size were the biggest,but the litter weight was smaller,and farrowing duration was longer.For Landrace sows with backfat thickness reduced by more than 2 mm,the total number of litters and alive litter size were the biggest,the litter weight was larger,and the farrowing duration was shorter.The research had shown that optimize the backfat thickness of sows could effectively improve reproductive performance of sow and welfare level of sow during perinatal period.The pig farm could establish database of backfat thickness according to the nutritional level and sow breeds,adjusting the backfat thickness in different stages of pregnancy by feeding accurately and controlling the reasonable change of backfat during pregnancy.

Key words: sow; pregnancy; backfat thickness; farrowing duration; reproductive performance

CLC Number: