The relationship between early weight measures gilt reproductive performance

摘要

The positive impact of birth weight on lifetime growth and survivability has been well documented. Increased birth weight has been associated with heavier body weights throughout the pig's life1 and improved pre-weaning and nursery survival.2,3 However, the impact between early weight measures and gilt reproductive performance has had limited investigation. Heavier gilts at birth arc more likely to farrow their first litter after they have been entered into the sow farm compared to lighter gilts.4 The aim of this study is to determine the impact of birth and weaning weight on subsequent gilt reproductive performance. Understanding the influence of early weight measures on economically relevant traits, such as conception rate and litter size, would be beneficial to improve gilt selection methods in a multiplication system.