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The effect of food intake in the rearing period on the reproductive performance of heavy and light gilts from large litters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. B. Ogle  and
Anne-Marie Dalin
R. B. Ogle
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-75-007 Uppsala, Sweden
Anne-Marie Dalin
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-75-007 Uppsala, Sweden
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Abstract

Sixty crossbred gilts, comprising 15 groups of four littermates from large litters (> 12 pigs) were used. The experiment was designed as a 2 × 2 factorial, with two initial live weights (light (L) or heavy (H)) and either a low (lp) or high (hp) plane of feeding during the rearing period and post mating within each litter group. The hp gilts were significantly heavier (P < 0·001) and had thicker backfat (P < 0·001) than the lp gilts at first oestrus. The Hhp gilts reached puberty 26·4 days earlier than the Hip gilts (P < 0·05). Level of food intake significantly influenced ovulation rates and total embryo numbers, the hp gilts shedding on average 2·4 more ova and having 1·9 more embryos than the lp gilts 28 to 35 days post mating (P < 0·05). However, due to somewhat higher embryonic mortality in the hp gilts, the mean number of live embryos was not significantly higher than for the lp gilts (P < 0·05).

Type
Papers
Information
Animal Production , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , October 1989 , pp. 305 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1989

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References

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