The effect of performance and litter parity on farrowing interval in Sows of Czech Large White and Czech landrace Breeds

Abstract

The dependence farrowing interval on litter parity, average daily gains, percentage of lean meat and backfat thickness was analysed in a set of 8 285 and 2 850 sows of Czech Large White and Czech Landrace breeds, respectively. The parameters under study were recorded in the Pig Breeders Association in Bohemia and Moravia. The highest farrowing interval (174.39 days) was found out in sows classified into the group with the lowest average daily gains (< 470 g). The farrowing interval slightly decrea- sed with the increasing growth intensity. No explicit relationship between the farrowing interval and the intensity of growth was found out in sows of the CL breed. No dependence of farrowing interval of individual groups of sows on the percentage of lean meat was found out in sows of the CLW breed; however, there was a statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference between groups with lean meat shares of 54.1–55.9% and 58.0–59.9. With the exception of the group with the lowest share of lean meat (< 54%), the farrowing interval decreased in dependence on the LM % in sows of the CL breed. In sows of the CLW breed, there was a tendency to increasing farrowing interval with the increasing values of BT. The only exception was the group with BT below 8 mm in which the farrowing interval was 199 days. A similar trend was observed also in sows of the CL breed. The average farrowing interval decreased with the increasing parity rank in both breeds; in CLW sows this value decreased from 175.01 days (after the 1st parturiton) to 158.18 days (after the 7th and the following litters). A similar tendency (from 181.64 days after the 1st parturition to 161.64 days after the 7th and the following parturitions) was observed also in sows of the CL breed.

Keywords

• farrowing interval
• sow
• daily gain
• lean meat
• backfat