Relationship between pig birth weight and survival in a swine nucleus herd

摘要

Swine maternal line selection programs place large emphasis on litter size. This has been evidenced by marked improvements in litter size over the past several years. Industry-wide total bom increased by 0.14 pigs per year from 2009 to 2014 with an average of 13.5 total born per litter in 2014.1 While larger litters result in more revenue tor producers by lowering sow farm costs per pig, there are diminishing returns in profit with additional pigs. Improving sow production efficiency through increasing litter size can adversely impact pig quality. A negative correlation between litter size and birth weight has been reported. Optimizing profitability for a commercial swine operation would require pig quality to be maintained with increased litter sizes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between pig birth weight and survivability as a pig quality measure.