Induction of lactational estrus in organic piglet production |
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| Institution: | 1. Private practice, Beverly Hills, Calif;2. Professor, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, Calif;1. School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, 5371, Australia;2. South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Roseworthy, 5371, Australia;1. Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan;2. Department of Nursing, Chang Jung Christian University, Tainan 71101, Taiwan;3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan 73657, Taiwan;4. Department of Medical Imaging and Radiology, Shu Zen College of Medicine and Management, Kaohsiung 82144, Taiwan;5. Department of Radiation Oncology, Sinlau Christian Hospital, Tainan 70142, Taiwan;6. Medical Physics and Informatics Laboratory, Department of Electronics Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan;2. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata (INIBIOLP), Centro Cientifico Tecnológico La Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnicas, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina;3. Unidad de Biofísica-Centro Mixto, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Bilbao, Spain;4. Groupe de spectrométrie de masse-APLIPID, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Faculté de Médicine Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France;5. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina;2. Key Laboratory of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education China, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;3. Institute of Agro-Products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, China |
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| Abstract: | The longer lactation period required in organic piglet producing herds reduces the potential number of produced litters per sow per year compared with that of conventional production. Induction and use of lactational estrus may be a way to increase the productivity in organic production. However, if lactational estrus is to be beneficial under practical husbandry conditions, it is crucial that the majority of sows are successfully mated within a few days to make batch farrowing procedures possible. The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence and timing of lactational estrus in an organic outdoor system based on ad libitum feeding, individual housing until Day 35 in lactation, followed by grouping and introduction of a boar and weaning of piglets after 8 wk. Five groups with four sows ((Danish Yorkshire × Danish Landrace) × Danish Duroc) in each were observed, and rank was determined by a food competition test. All sows showed lactational estrus, and 84% of these sows showed estrus within 1 wk, on average 43.5 d and 7.3 d after farrowing and boar introduction, respectively. The number of days from boar introduction to estrus increased significantly with increasing feed competition rank (the lowest number being the top rank position). Eighty-four percent of all sows were diagnosed pregnant 5 wk after estrus. Behavioral observations revealed that the average total number of copulations per estrus sow was 2.3 with a range of 0 to 5 copulations. The findings of the current study indicate that it is possible to combine lactational estrus and batch farrowing procedures to increase the number of weaned piglets per year per sow in organic piglet production based on 8 wk of lactation or more. |
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