A 'two-stage' farrowing and lactation system: assessing the impacts of group lactation on the incidence of lactational oestrus and reproductive performance

摘要

Piglet removal for 16 hours per day from d 16 after parturition onwards, combined with fence-line boar exposure, stimulated a high proportion of crated sows to exhibit a synchronous ovulatory response during lactation (Downing et al. 2011). However, it is still unclear whether the natural separation of sows and piglets in a group housing system would induce a similar response (van Nieuwamerongen et al. 2014). This study tested the hypothesis that an increase in follicular development and spontaneousoestrus would be observed amongst group-housed sows during lactation compared to crated- and PigSAFE-housed sows.