Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to underline that litter size as a key trait of sows needs new parameters to be evaluated and to target an individual optimum. Large individual variation in litter size affects both production and piglet’s survival and health negatively. Therefore,...

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Main Author: Gertraude Freyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Korean Society of Animal Sciences and Technology 2018-05-01
Series:Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Subjects:
Pig
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40781-018-0172-x
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spelling doaj-05cc456bfe43419e89fe6bc6327c3b4d2020-11-25T03:23:32ZengKorean Society of Animal Sciences and TechnologyJournal of Animal Science and Technology2055-03912018-05-016011710.1186/s40781-018-0172-xMaximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sowsGertraude Freyer0Leibniz Institute of Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Institute for Genetics and BiometryAbstract Background The objective of this study was to underline that litter size as a key trait of sows needs new parameters to be evaluated and to target an individual optimum. Large individual variation in litter size affects both production and piglet’s survival and health negatively. Therefore, two new traits were suggested and analyzed. Two data sets on 5509 purebred German Landrace sows and 3926 Large White and crossing sows including at least two parental generations and at least five parities were subjected to variance components analysis. Results The new traits for evaluating litter size were derived from the individual numbers of total born piglets (TBP) per parity: In most cases, sows reach their maximum litter size in their fourth parity. Therefore, data from at least five parities were included. The first observable maximum and minimum of TBP, and the individual variation expressed by the range were targeted. Maximum of TBP being an observable trait in pig breeding and management yielded clearly higher heritability estimates (h 2 ~ 0.3) than those estimates predominantly reported so far. Maximum TBP gets closer to the genetic capacity for litter size than other litter traits. Minimum of TBP is positively correlated with the range of TBP (r p  = 0.48, r g  > 0.6). The correlation between maximum of TBP and its individually reached frequency was negative in both data sets (r p  = − 0.28 and − 0.22, respectively). Estimated heritability coefficients for the range of TBP comprised a span of h 2  = 0.06 to 0.10. Conclusion An optimum both for maximum and range of total born piglets in selecting sows is a way contributing to homogenous litters in order to improving the animal-related conditions both for piglets’ welfare and economic management in pig.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40781-018-0172-xPigLitter sizeIndividual maximumVariationHeritabilityTrait correlation
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Gertraude Freyer
spellingShingle Gertraude Freyer
Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Pig
Litter size
Individual maximum
Variation
Heritability
Trait correlation
author_facet Gertraude Freyer
author_sort Gertraude Freyer
title Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
title_short Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
title_full Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
title_fullStr Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
title_full_unstemmed Maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
title_sort maximum number of total born piglets in a parity and individual ranges in litter size expressed as specific characteristics of sows
publisher Korean Society of Animal Sciences and Technology
series Journal of Animal Science and Technology
issn 2055-0391
publishDate 2018-05-01
description Abstract Background The objective of this study was to underline that litter size as a key trait of sows needs new parameters to be evaluated and to target an individual optimum. Large individual variation in litter size affects both production and piglet’s survival and health negatively. Therefore, two new traits were suggested and analyzed. Two data sets on 5509 purebred German Landrace sows and 3926 Large White and crossing sows including at least two parental generations and at least five parities were subjected to variance components analysis. Results The new traits for evaluating litter size were derived from the individual numbers of total born piglets (TBP) per parity: In most cases, sows reach their maximum litter size in their fourth parity. Therefore, data from at least five parities were included. The first observable maximum and minimum of TBP, and the individual variation expressed by the range were targeted. Maximum of TBP being an observable trait in pig breeding and management yielded clearly higher heritability estimates (h 2 ~ 0.3) than those estimates predominantly reported so far. Maximum TBP gets closer to the genetic capacity for litter size than other litter traits. Minimum of TBP is positively correlated with the range of TBP (r p  = 0.48, r g  > 0.6). The correlation between maximum of TBP and its individually reached frequency was negative in both data sets (r p  = − 0.28 and − 0.22, respectively). Estimated heritability coefficients for the range of TBP comprised a span of h 2  = 0.06 to 0.10. Conclusion An optimum both for maximum and range of total born piglets in selecting sows is a way contributing to homogenous litters in order to improving the animal-related conditions both for piglets’ welfare and economic management in pig.
topic Pig
Litter size
Individual maximum
Variation
Heritability
Trait correlation
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40781-018-0172-x
work_keys_str_mv AT gertraudefreyer maximumnumberoftotalbornpigletsinaparityandindividualrangesinlittersizeexpressedasspecificcharacteristicsofsows
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