Effect of within-litter birth weight variation after cross-fostering on piglet preweaning growth and mortality
| Autor: | Katherine D Vande Pol, Catherine B Brown, Heath Harper, Caleb M Shull, Rafael O Bautista, Michael Ellis |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Litter (animal)
education.field_of_study General Veterinary 040301 veterinary sciences Birth weight Population 0402 animal and dairy science birth weight 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences Biology 040201 dairy & animal science cross-fostering 0403 veterinary science Animal science Body condition score weaning weight within-litter birth weight variation Housing and Management Cross-fostering AcademicSubjects/SCI00960 piglet Animal Science and Zoology preweaning mortality education Weaning weight |
| Zdroj: | Translational Animal Science |
| ISSN: | 2573-2102 |
| Popis: | Cross-fostering is commonly used in commercial swine production to equalize litter sizes and/or adjust piglet birth weights within litters. However, there is limited published information on optimum cross-fostering procedures. This study evaluated the effects of within-litter birth weight variation after cross-fostering (using litters of 14 piglets) on piglet preweaning mortality (PWM) and weaning weight (WW). An RCBD was used (blocking factors were day of farrowing and sow parity, body condition score, and functional teat number) with an incomplete factorial arrangement of the following two treatments: 1) birth weight category (BWC): light ( 0.05) on PWM of light piglets. In conclusion, increasing the average birth weight of littermates after cross-fostering generally decreased WW and increased PWM for piglets of all birth weight categories. This implies that the optimum approach to cross-fostering that maximizes piglet preweaning growth and survival is likely to vary depending on the birth weight distribution of the population. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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