Page 16 of articles about sow in Abstracts

Sow and litter performance may be improved by dietary yeast cell supplementation.

It was concluded that natural infection of PEDV in the pregnant gilts and sows caused a reduction of subsequent reproductive performance.

The study evaluated the influence of growth rate (GR) and backfat thickness (BF), at first mating of gilts, on the reproductive performance until the first farrowing and on the variation in birth weight of piglets.

Early embryo development requires a dynamic and active uterine environment tailored to the requirements of each embryonic stage. The development of asynchrony between the embryo and uterine environment during embryo transfer has been directly linked with both embryonic loss and abnormal development. Hyaluronic Acid (HA), has been implicated as an important factor in porcine embryo development in vitro, but little data exists on the concentrations of this glycoaminoglycan in the porcine female reproductive tract and its potential application in embryo transfer procedures.

Objectives: To determine estrus and ovulation responses of gilts and sows to different doses of equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG), with different intervals between eCG and luteinizing hormone (pLH) injections.

Formulating a sow diet based on percent lysine is only effective when total feed intake is known.

Current NRC (1998) recommendations for amino acids (AA) do not account for different requirements in early vs late gestation due to changes in metabolism; recovery of body tissue from previous lactation, and fetal, gut and mammary growth in late gestation. These increases in gut and mammary tissue and gut mucin suggest that there is a higher requirement for threonine (THR) in late gestation.

Dietary L-Arginine supplementation may negatively affect gilt reproductive performance.

We assessed how piglets play, fighting and biting behaviour before and after weaning were affected by the housing system and weaning age as well as how the three behaviours are related to each other and piglet post-weaning weight gain.

Liquid feeding during lactation may increase feed intake without affecting piglet performance

The present study was conducted to evaluate non-return rate (NR), farrowing rate (FR), and number of total pigs born/litter (TB) of weaned sows after intra-uterine insemination (IUI) using low numbers of frozen–thawed (FT) spermatozoa.

Post-weaning treatment with Altrenogest of first litter sows influenced follicle size and shortened the follicular phase, but did not affect ovulation rate or early embryonic development.

Stillbirth in swine ranges from 2 to 9%, resulting in a significant loss of piglets. Previous studies clearly indicate a relationship between prolonged birth intervals and stillbirth, but factors influencing birth intervals are not fully known. To characterize birth intervals and stillbirth, farrowing was recorded during three farrowing seasons.

The present studies confirm an adverse effect of inseminating FT sperm on sperm quality and sow fertility but suggest that thawing FT sperm in 50% SP may partially alleviate these adverse effects.

Allowing the sow to move freely before farrowing, reducing the constipation state and avoid excessive fattening during late pregnancy all appear to be key factors in shortening farrowing time and reducing perinatal mortality.

The provision of alternative comfort flooring may provide welfare benefits to breeding sows, though environmental temperature needs to be considered when providing rubber mats.