The influence of environmental temperatures on farrowing rates and litter sizes in South African pig breeding units

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dc.contributor.author Janse van Rensburg, Leana
dc.contributor.author Spencer, B.T. (Brian Tom)
dc.date.accessioned 2015-01-23T08:22:35Z
dc.date.available 2015-01-23T08:22:35Z
dc.date.issued 2014-11
dc.description.abstract The reproductive performance of pigs is one of the main determinants of the profit farmers make from pig production. This study was undertaken to describe whether periods of high environmental temperature have an effect on the farrowing rate, litter sizes and number of stillbirths in commercial breeding units in South Africa. Data were collected weekly from four commercial breeding units with good records from December 2010 to August 2012. These data included the number of sows mated, number of sows farrowed and number of piglets born alive, as well as the number of stillbirths. Note was also taken of whether environmental temperature control mechanisms were employed. Temperature data from weather stations within 100 km of the breeding units were obtained from the South African Weather Service. In all breeding units a decrease in farrowing rate following mating during severe average temperatures (> 30 °C) when compared to the farrowing rate following mating during mild average temperatures (< 22 °C) was observed. When mating occurred at higher temperatures, the resultant litter size was marginally decreased in the breeding units that did not employ environmental temperature control, but was unaffected in the breeding units that did. In all four breeding units the trend was for the average number of piglets born alive to increase as the environmental temperature around the time of farrowing increased and the trend in three of the four breeding units was for the percentage of stillbirths per litter to decrease with increased temperature around the time of farrowing. The most significant observation in this study was the trend for farrowing rates to decrease following inseminations during times of high ambient temperatures (> 30 °C). Environmental temperature control did not negate this effect, but the breeding units employing the environmental temperature control did show higher average farrowing rates overall. en_ZA
dc.description.librarian tm2015 en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.ojvr.org en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Janse van Rensburg, L. & Spencer, B.T., 2014, ‘The influence of environmental temperatures on farrowing rates and litter sizes in South African pig breeding units’, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 81(1), Art. #824, 7 pages. http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/ojvr. v81i1.824. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0030-2465
dc.identifier.issn 2219-0635
dc.identifier.other 10.4102/ojvr. v81i1.824
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43398
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher AOSIS OpenJournals Publishing en_ZA
dc.relation.requires Adobe Acrobat Reader en
dc.rights © 2014. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. en_ZA
dc.subject Environmental temperatures en_ZA
dc.subject Reproductive performance en_ZA
dc.subject Breeding en_ZA
dc.subject South African pig breeding units en_ZA
dc.subject Commercial breeding units en_ZA
dc.title The influence of environmental temperatures on farrowing rates and litter sizes in South African pig breeding units en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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