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In most of the graphs shown, the breedings done on holidays have similar farrowing rates to those carried out the week prior. The only case in which an important difference was observed was with the matings done on August 15, where the influence of high summer temperatures could have caused a greater difference between the farrowing rate of the matings done that day and the farrowing rate obtained from the matings done 7 days before.
On the other hand, there is some variability in the results of the inseminations done the day after the holidays. For the days following the Christmas/New Year holidays and Labor Day (May 1), a drop in the farrowing rate of their respective matings is observed. While with the inseminations done the day following All Saints' Day (November 1) and Constitution Day (December 6), the effect is opposite; a greater farrowing rate is obtained compared to the holiday.
The explanation for this variability may not be based in a better or worse ability to detect heats on the holidays in question, nor perhaps in the shelf life of the seminal doses or the insemination process itself. The explanation for this variability may lie in the day of the week on which the breeding takes place, and that one day of the week or another may influence the results of the breeding. The following graph (Graph 8) shows the number of matings recorded on each day of the week throughout 2018, and also shows the farrowing rates obtained from these matings. Quantitatively, it can be seen that the day with the most inseminations is Monday, followed by Friday; both days obtaining farrowing rates of almost 85%. On the other hand, Wednesday and Thursday are the days of the week with the least inseminations recorded, obtaining the worst results in terms of the farrowing rate, with 80.4% and 81.2%, respectively. This reduced number of matings, accompanied by a lower reproductive performance, would be due to the fact that these are inseminations of sows that came from a previous reproductive failure, abnormal returns to estrus, etc.
If we focus on the cases that saw the greatest variability in the farrowing rate after the holiday, we can see that:
In the case of Christmas/New Year and Labor day (May 1), the day of the week immediately following the holiday was a Wednesday, with this day showing the lowest farrowing rate for the whole week; as seen in the graph. While with respect to All Saints' Day and Constitution Day, the day after these holidays was Friday, which would explain the increase in the farrowing rate compared to for the holiday itself.
Graph 8. Matings and their respective farrowing rates according to the day of the week.
The general conclusion is that it seems that holidays do not "take their toll" as strongly as might be expected. Since, in most cases, the farrowing rate shows values close to those seen in the previous week. Similarly, the improvement or worsening of the results of post-holiday breedings are closely related to the day on which they are done and not to other causes that could originate from the holiday itself. In the end, everything seems to indicate that we will not be affected so much by the holiday itself as by the day of the week on which it falls. The industry is becoming more and more professionalized, so on many of our farms, there is such "bank-holiday effect"
