Factors influencing litter size in swine: parity-one females.

ABSTRACT

The influence of age at conception, number of matings per conception, season of conception, and breed of female on parity-1 litter size was investigated in 4,944 females from 5 commercial swine herds located in North America. The influence of age at conception on reproductive performance of females in subsequent parities also was investigated. As the age at conception increased from 180 to 245 days, litter size increased 0.017 and 0.012 pig per day, respectively, (P less than 0.05) in 2 of the 3 herds that recorded such data. Age at conception did not influence litter size when conception occurred after 245 days of age. Longevity (parity achieved before death or culling) of females was not influenced by age at first conception. Gilts that conceived before 220 days of age had significantly shorter weaning-to-conception intervals in one herd and shorter farrowing-to-conception intervals in another herd throughout subsequent parities. In 1 of 3 herds that recorded such data, live and total litter size increased from 9.46 to 10.46 and 10.16 to 11.50, respectively (P less than 0.05), as number of matings increased from 1 to 3 per conception. No significant influence of number of matings per conception was observed in the other 2 herds. The effect of season of conception was variable among herds. In 2 herds, there was no significant effect of season of conception on subsequent litter size.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)