• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.96-101
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• 2005

There were two trials involved in the experiment. Trial 1: the trial was conducted on two Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) pig farms. One was located in the north of Taiwan and the other was located in the south. Both farms had wet pad and forced ventilation (WPFV) and conventional open design (COD) boar and sow houses. There were 12 Duroc boars, age ranging from 12-24 months. Half of them (6 boars) were raised in a WPFV pig house, and the other half were kept in a COD house. Semen was collected at 5-day intervals from May $1^{st}$ to the end of October. Sixteen sows (2-8 parity) were served by artificial insemination each week from the beginning of May to the end of Oct. These sows were checked for heat from 18 days to 25 days after insemination. Trial 2: there were four MPFV boar houses involved in the test. Two houses were located in the north of Taiwan, and the other two houses were located in the south. The test was conducted from January 2000 to December 2001. The total number of serviced sows by MPFV-housed boars was 35,105 head and for COD-housed boars 103,065 head. The results showed that the total semen volume, density of sperm, total sperm per ejaculate, sperm motility and morphological abnormality were significantly better (p<0.01) for boar raised in WPFV house than for COD houses. Average sperm motility in June and July was lower than for the other months. Morphological abnormality was higher during May, June and July. Although the results did not reach a significant level, the average value showed that the total volume of boar semen was higher in the north than for the south. The total semen volume production of boar raised in WPFV was higher than for boars raised in COD house, reaching a significant level only in summer. Boars kept in WPFV house had higher total sperm number than boars kept in COD house, reaching a significant level in spring (p<0.05), summer (p<0.01), and fall (p<0.05) but not in winter (p>0.05). Boars raised in WPFV house had significantly higher sperm motility than boars in COD house during spring (p<0.001), summer (p<0.001), fall (p<0.01) and winter (p<0.05). The average farrowing rate and piglets born alive were higher for boars in WPFV house than for boars in COD house, but neither reached a significant level (p>0.05). The present experiment shows that WPFV house can improve the reproduction performance of boars.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.320-327
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• 2017

Objective: The objective of this research was to estimate genetic correlations between number of piglets born alive in the first parity (NBA1), litter birth weight in the first parity (LTBW1), number of piglets weaned in the first parity (NPW1), litter weaning weight in the first parity (LTWW1), number of piglets born alive from second to last parity (NBA2+), litter birth weight from second to last parity (LTBW2+), number of piglets weaned from second to last parity (NPW2+) and litter weaning weight from second to last parity (LTWW2+), and to identify the percentages of animals (the top 10%, 25%, and 50%) for first parity and sums of second and later parity traits. Methods: The 9,830 records consisted of 2,124 Landrace (L), 724 Yorkshire (Y), 2,650 LY, and 4,332 YL that had their first farrowing between July 1989 and December 2013. The 8-trait animal model included the fixed effects of first farrowing year-season, additive genetic group, heterosis of the sow and the litter, age at first farrowing, and days to weaning (NPW1, LTWW1, NPW2+, and LTWW2+). Random effects were animal and residual. Results: Heritability estimates ranged from $0.08{\pm}0.02$ (NBA1 and NPW1) to $0.29{\pm}0.02$ (NPW2+). Genetic correlations between reproduction traits in the first parity and from second to last parity ranged from $0.17{\pm}0.08$ (LTBW1 and LTBW2+) to $0.67{\pm}0.06$ (LTWW1 and LTWW2+). Phenotypic correlations between reproduction traits in the first parity and from second to last parity were close to zero. Rank correlations between LTWW1 and LTWW2+ estimated breeding value tended to be higher than for other pairs of traits across all replacement percentages. Conclusion: These rank correlations indicated that selecting boars and sows using genetic predictions for first parity reproduction traits would help improve reproduction traits in the second and later parities as well as lifetime productivity in this swine population.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.883-895
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of a fatty acid-balanced oil, instead of soybean oil, on reproductive performance, nutrient digestibility, blood indexes, milk composition in lactating sows, and fecal microbial composition in piglets. Methods: Twenty-four sows (Landrace×Yorkshire, mean parity 4.96) were randomly allotted to two treatments with twelve pens per treatment and one sow per pen based on their backfat thickness and parity. The experiment began on day 107 of gestation and continued until weaning on day 21 of lactation, lasting for 28 days. The control group (CG) was fed a basal diet supplemented with 2% soybean oil and the experimental group (EG) was fed the basal diet supplemented with 2% fatty acid-balanced oil. Results: The fatty acid-balanced oil supplementation increased (p<0.05) the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and gross energy in sows. The lower (p<0.05) serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and albumin levels of sows were observed in the EG on day 21 of lactation. Dietary supplementation with the fatty acid-balanced oil decreased the fat content, increased the immunoglobulin G level, and changed (p<0.05) some fatty acid content in milk. Moreover, the fatty acid-balanced oil supplementation changed (p<0.05) the fecal microbial composition of piglets, where the average relative abundance of Spirochaetota was decreased (p<0.05) by 0.55% at the phylum level, and the average relative abundance of some potentially pathogenic fecal microorganism was decreased (p<0.05) at the species level. Conclusion: The fatty acid-balanced oil improved nutrient digestibility, changed the serum biochemical indices and milk composition of sows, and ameliorated the fecal microbial composition of piglets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1469-1474
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• 2002

This study was designed to evaluate the influence of a single or double dose of Fe dextran with organic trace mineral supplementation on the performance of piglets from dams fed diets with either inorganic (ITM) or organic trace minerals (OTM). It also determined the effect of the source of the trace minerals on the reproductive performance of sows. The trace mineral premixes were prepared using metal proteinates and the corresponding inorganic salts for the OTM and the ITM, respectively. Each mineral premix provided 100 ppm Fe/175 ppm Fe, 35 ppm Cu/170 ppm Cu, 90 ppm Zn/120 ppm Zn, and 40 ppm Mn/35 ppm Mn when added at 0.20% in sows /weaned pigs' diets, respectively. The first dose of Fe dextran was administered to piglets at 3 d and the second dose at 10 d after birth. One dose of Fe dextran supplied 100 mg of Fe. A total of 16 gestating sows (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) in parities 2 to 4 were randomly allocated to four treatments: 1) diet with ITM/one dose of Fe dextran to piglets, 2) diet with ITM/two doses of Fe dextran to piglets, 3) diet with OTM/one dose of Fe dextran to piglets, and 4) diet with OTM/two doses of Fe dextran to piglets. The total born alive, weaned, body weight at birth and at weaning were not affected by the sow's dietary treatment. Although organic trace mineral supplementation tended to increase the milk Fe content (p<0.10) at 7 d postpartum, piglets in all treatments performed equally from birth to weaning. The double doses of Fe dextran neither improved the average daily gain (ADG) nor influenced the survival of piglets from birth to weaning (21 d). Results suggest that a single dose of Fe dextran given to suckling pigs is adequate to sustain their needs for growth throughout the lactation period (21 d). Furthermore, there was a 21% improvement in both the ADG and the average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) in weaned pigs fed diets with OTM. Cu and Fe in the liver (p<0.01), and Zn in both the bone (p<0.01) and the serum (p<0.01) were higher in piglets fed OTM than in those fed ITM. It would be concluded that single dose of Fe dextran administration with organic trace mineral supplementation show similar growth performance compared to 2 dose Fe dextran administration with inorganic mineral supplementation in young pigs.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.160-168
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• 2021

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of different cooling systems on the performance and hair cortisol of sows under heat stress. During a 21-day experiment, a total of 40 multiparous sows (Landrace×Yorkshire; 242.84±2.89 kg) were allotted to 4 treatments, each with 10 replicates (1 sow per pen). The experimental treatments were CP (Cooling pad), AC (Air conditioner), SC (Snout cooling), and MS (Mist spray). We observed an increase in the average daily feed intake during lactation (p<0.05) in the CP and AC treatment groups. AC treatment had the highest (p<0.05) and SC treatment had the lowest (p<0.05) piglet weight at weaning. During lactation, sows administered SC and MS treatments had higher (p<0.05) hair cortisol accumulation, as compared with the AC and CP treatments. Hair cortisol accumulation in piglets during lactation was highest with MS treatment (p<0.05), and lowest after CP treatment (p<0.05). MS treatment had the highest (p<0.05), and AC treatment had the lowest (p<0.05) respiratory rate and rectal temperature during lactation. In conclusion, our results indicate that a cooling pad and air conditioning cooling system increases the productivity of a sow, as compared to snout cooling and mist spray cooling systems.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.315-318
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the changes of hormone levels of serum progesterone (P4) and estradiol-$17{\beta}$ (E2) in sows of Landrace (L), Yorkshire (Y) and F1 (L ${\times}$ Y) (respectively n=3) with excellent ability, and to provide a baseline data for improving reproductive performance. In this experiment, the sows at the age of 12 months or more were used. The sows were fed by two way methods, one is conventional methods and the other is 3 days-flushing feed before estrus. Each pig's blood was collected in 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days after the estrus for the analyses of P4 and E2. Serum was separated by centrifugation for 15 min. with 3,000 rpm. Progesterone and estradiol-$17{\beta}$ were measured by immunochemical assay (ELIZA test). In conventional feeding, serum progesterone levels were significantly (p<0.01) higher in F1 than in L and Y. No significant differences in P4 concentrations were seen between the L and Y of sows. Serum E2 levels were similar the serum progesterone levels. In the case of flushing feed, the tendency of hormonal changes were similar to conventional methods. But almost of hormonal levels were a little higher than that of conventional methods. P4 level of L and Y in flushing feed were significantly different (p<0.01). Serum E2 level of Y in flushing feed was significantly different among the breeds (p<0.01). These results were similar to the tendency of hormonal changes in general sows and moreover, flushing feed is known to develop the swine production, these results proved the fact of the methods. And these results suggested that more studies about hormonal changes in sows according to seasonal and nutritional factors should be needed.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.451-458
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• 2007

This study was to investigate the effectiveness of pre-weaning injection of gonadotropin and scheduled fixed-time insemination on sow fertility. Sows were randomly assigned to receive gonadotropin 2 days before weaning, 1 day after weaning or none as control. In gonadotropin treated groups, half of sows were inseminated twice at 24 and 36 hours after onset estrus and half of sows were inseminated twice at scheduled fixed-time. Weaning to onset of estrus was the shortest in lactating sows injected with gonadotropin prior to weaning. Liter size was significantly higher in AI groups after detection of estrus, compared to fixed-time AI group. Results of these experiments indicated that injection of gonadotropin in lactating sows could initiate the final follicular development, and has potential to enhance the reintegration of estrus. Further researches are needed to define the relationship between reduced interval of wean to onset estrus and enhanced fertility in lactating sows.