Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T09:56:27.148Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of the post-weaning social environment on the weaning to mating interval of the sow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. H. Hemsworth ,
N. T. C. J. Salden  and
A. Hoogerbrugge
P. H. Hemsworth
Affiliation:
Departments of Herd Health and Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
N. T. C. J. Salden
Affiliation:
Bergia Mengvoeders BV, Post Box 554, Zwolle, The Netherlands
A. Hoogerbrugge
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get access

Abstract

Two studies were conducted at commercial farms on a total of 1117 sows to investigate the role of social environment on the weaning to mating interval of the sow. In one of the two studies, group housing and intense boar stimulation, achieved by daily introduction to a boar, were associated with significant reductions in the weaning to mating interval of the sow (P<0·05 and P<0·01, respectively): these two factors together produced increases of 0·18 and 0·22 in the proportion of sows mated within 10 and 28 days of weaning, respectively. In addition, parity and temperature during the week of weaning were significantly associated with the weaning to mating interval in both studies (P< 0·005 and P<005, respectively). It is concluded that the post-weaning social environment will influence the onset of oestrus in the sow.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , August 1982 , pp. 41 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aumaitre, A., Dagorn, J., Legault, C. and Ledenmat, M. 1976. Influence of farm management and breed type on sow's conception-weaning interval and productivity in France, Livest. Prod. Sci. 3: 75–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bichard, M., Holden, Brenda and Harvey, Rosamund. 1980. Lactation length and remating interval in relation to subsequent reproductive performance of the sow. Anim. Prod. 30: 453 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Brooks, P. H. 1974. Oestrus detection and synchronisation in gilts and sows. Proc. Symp. Detection Control Breed. Activity Fm Anim. (ed. Owen, J. B.), pp. 73–83. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen.Google Scholar
Brooks, P. H. and Cole, D. J. A. 1970. The effect of the presence of a male on the attainment of puberty in gilts. J. Reprod. Fen. 23: 435–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
England, D. C. and Spurr, D. T. 1969. Litter size of swine confined during gestation. J. Anim. Sci. 28: 220–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fahmy, M. H. and Dufour, J. J. 1976. Effects of post-weaning stress and feeding management on return to oestrus and reproductive traits during early pregnancy in swine. Anim, Prod. 23: 103–110.Google Scholar
Fahmy, M. H., Holtmann, W. B. and Baker, R. D. 1979. Failure to recycle after weaning, and weaning to oestrus interval in crossbred sows. Anim. Prod. 29: 193–202.Google Scholar
Goodman, L. A. 1971. The analysis of multi-dimensional contingency tables. Stepwise procedures and direct estimation methods for building models for multiple classification. Technometrics 13: 33–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hillyer, G. M. 1976. An investigation using a synthetic porcine pheromone and the effect on days from weaning to conception. Vet. Rec. 98: 93–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, P. E. and Cole, D. J. A. 1976. Reproduction in the gilt. 2. The influence of gilt age at boar introduction on the attainment of puberty. Anim. Prod. 23: 89–94.Google Scholar
Hurtgen, J. P. 1976. Seasonal anestrus in a Minnesota swine breeding herd. In Proc. 4th Int. Congr. Int. Pig Vet. Soc, Ames, la., D22.Google Scholar
Karlberg, K. 1980. Factors affecting post-weaning oestrus in the sow. Nord. Vet Med. 32: 183–193.Google Scholar
King, G. J. 1978. Occurrence of post-weaning oestrus in primiparous and pluriparous sows. Proc. 5th Wld Congr. Int. Pig Vet. Soc, Zagreb, K.A. 12.Google Scholar
Kirkwood, R. N. and Hughes, P. E. 1981. A note on the influence of boar age on its ability to advance puberty in the gilt. Anim. Prod. 32: 211–213.Google Scholar
MacLean, C. W. 1969. Observations on non-infectious infertility in sows. Vet. Rec. 85: 675–682.Google ScholarPubMed
Meredith, M. J. 1979. The treatment of anoestrus in the pig: a review. Vet. Rec. 104: 25–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rasbech, N. O. 1969. A review of the causes of reproductive failure in swine. Br. vet. J. 125: 599–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Signoret, J. P. 1970. Swine behaviour in reproduction. Proc. Symp. Effect Dis. Stress Reprod. Effic. Swine, pp. 28–45. University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
Signoret, J. P. and Mauleon, P. 1962. The effects of surgical removal of the olfactory bulbs on the sexual cycle and the genital tract of sows. Annls Biol. anim. Biochim. Biophys. 2: 167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommer, B. 1979. [Sows in individual pens and group housing—oestrous behaviour, parturition, fertility and damage to limbs.] Thesis, Ludwig-Maximilians-Univ., Munich.Google Scholar
Watson, R. H. and Radford, H. M. 1960. The influence of rams on onset of oestrus in Merino ewes in the spring. Aust. J. agric. Res. 11: 65–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitten, W. K. 1956. Modification of the oestrous cycle of the mouse by external stimuli associated with the male. J. Endocr. 13: 399–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Willems, C. M. 1961. The diagnosis of heat in swine. Tijdschr. Diergeneesk. 86: 1531–1534.Google Scholar
Wrathall, A. E. 1975. Reproductive Disorders in Pigs. Rev. Ser. Commonw. Bur. Anim. Hlth, No. 11. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar