Effect of minimal disease in a herd on reproductive parameters of sows

Abstract

The aim of this study was evaluation of reproductive performance in sows from herds with minimal disease. Total number of 40 sows were included in the observation and evaluated from the 1st to the 4th parity. The highest reproductive performance was recorded at the 3rd parity. Statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) was found between the 1st and the 3rd parity and highly statistically significant difference (P < 0.01) was recorded between the 2nd and the 3rd parity in number of live-born piglets. Comparison of numbers of stillborn piglets showed statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) between the mean values of the 1st and the 4th parity. The results also showed highly statistically significant difference (P < 0.01) in number of reared piglets between the 3rd and the 4th parity. The conclusions of this study indicate that creation and maintenance of herds of sows with high health status lead to excellent results in the area of pig reproduction.