China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (8): 3171-3179.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2023.08.014

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles    

Research Progress on Maternal Behavior in Sows and Its Influencing Factors

LI Hanmei, YAN Hua, LIU Xin, WANG Lixian   

  1. Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2023-01-10 Published:2023-07-27

Abstract: The breeding of reproductive performance in sows has increased litter size,but high mortality of piglets at 5 days postnatal and even before weaning is still a major problem in production.The maternal behaviors of sows have an important impact on the survival,growth and welfare of piglets,thus affecting the breeding benefits.Therefore,the study on sow maternal behavior is of great significance.The maternal behavior in sows mainly include prenatal nesting,postpartum lactation,rearing,litter care and so on.The maternal behavior in sows is regulated by the interaction of nerves and hormones,and is also influenced by genetic,environment and other factors.With the adjustment of breeding objectives and the importance of animal welfare,the maternal behavior in sows has been studied by more and more scholars.The author reviewed the domestic and foreign research progress on the mechanism and influencing factors of maternal behavior in sows,and prospected the future research direction,which providing a theoretical basis and research ideas for subsequent research of maternal behavior in sows.

Key words: sows; maternal behavior; regulation mechanism; influence factor

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