Factors affecting temporal relationships between estrus and ovulation in commercial sow farms

The main objective was to examine effects of season, parity, genotype, lactation length, and weaning-to-estrus interval on duration of estrus (DE) and onset of estrus-to-ovulation interval (EOI) in three sow farms. Detection of estrus and ovulation by the back-pressure test and transabdominal ultrasonography, respectively, were performed every 6 h from day 2-10 postweaning in 535 sows (approximately 89 per farm per season). The average weaning-to-estrus interval, DE, and EOI of the 501 sows that returned to estrus by day 10 postweaning were 4.6+/-0.1 days, 55.2+/-0.5 h, and 41.8+/-0.5 h, respectively. Farm x season (P<0.01), parity x season (P <0.05), and farm x weaning-to-estrus interval (P<0.05) interactions for DE and EOI were detected. Sows weaned in the summer had an 8 h longer (P<0.001) DE and EOI than those weaned in the spring on farms 1 and 3. On farm 2 however, DE and EOI did not differ (P=0.09) in sows weaned in summer versus spring. On each farm, parity 3 and > or =4 sows had a 4.5 h longer (P<0.05) DE and EOI than parity 1 and 2 sows in the summer, but there were no differences (P>0.11) in DE or EOI among parity classes in the spring. There was a linear decrease of DE (P<0.001) and EOI (P<0.05) as weaning-to-estrus interval increased from the 3 to the > or =7 day class on each farm. However, the range of weaning-to-estrus interval that exhibited a stepwise decrease of DE and EOI was narrower on farm 1 (3-5 days) than farms 2 and 3 (3-6 days). Only farms 1 and 3 had multiple genotypes. Genotype did not affect (P>0.14) DE on either farm, but the EOI of genotype B was 4 h shorter (P<0.05) than genotype C on farm 1. On each farm, DE decreased linearly (P<0.01) as lactation length increased from < or =13 to > or =20 days. In general, factors that affected EOI also affected (P<0.05) the percentage of inseminations that occurred within 24 h pre- to 3h post-ovulation. These data indicate that factors other than weaning-to-estrus interval, such as season and parity, can significantly alter DE and EOI. However, the effects of season and weaning-to-estrus interval on DE and EOI can be inconsistent among different farms.