Duroc boars have lower progeny mortality and lower fertility than Pietrain boars1

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In pig production, Pietrain and Duroc lines are often used as terminal sire lines to produce crossbred slaughter pigs. The objective of this study was to identify the differences in paternal fertility and mortality during the suckling period of crossbred progeny from Pietrain and Duroc terminal sire lines. In total, 87 purebred Duroc boars and 68 purebred Pietrain boars were used as terminal sires to produce 1,823 crossbred Duroc litters (D-litters) and 1,705 crossbred Pietrain litters (P-litters) in two production herds. The sows were crosses between DanBred Landrace and Yorkshire (F1). All boars were kept at the same artificial insemination (AI) station, and all semen doses were produced in the same laboratory. The experiment was balanced according to herd, boars, and time, with approximately 13 sows from each herd mated to each boar within each breed. The results showed higher fertility expressed as litter size at birth in P-litters compared with D-litters led to 0.5 higher total number born (TNB) for P-litters (P = 0.0076). However, piglet mortality including number of stillborn piglets was lower in D-litters compared with P-litters (P &amp;lt; 0.0001), and 5 d after farrowing, the average litter size in P-litters ranged 0.4 below the litter size in D-litters (P &amp;lt; 0.027). At 21 d after birth, mean litter size in P- and D-litters were 14.5 and 14.9 piglets per litter, respectively (P &amp;lt; 0.015). This indicated that Pietrain progenies were weaker than Duroc progenies, and it was concluded that use of Duroc boars as the terminal sire line led to lower piglet mortality. In the two herds, the mean piglet mortality rate including still born piglets ranged from 19.5% to 23.6% and from 17.6% to 19.1% in P- and D-litters, respectively.</jats:p>

Combined Effect of Sow Parity and Terminal Boar on Losses of Piglets and Pre-Weaning Growth Intensity of Piglets

“…The mortality of piglets from birth to weaning was also higher by 4% after insemination by the Pn boar. Pedersen et al [ 6 ] reported 0.5 live-born piglets more after insemination by the Pn boar than by the D boar; however, pre-weaning mortality was also higher in the piglets of the Pn boars, by more than 0.5 piglet, which corresponds to our results. As in the present study, Magowan and McCann [ 12 ] did not confirm the effect of terminal boars on the number of piglets reared; however, they found a significant effect ( p < 0.01) on losses of piglets from birth to weaning.…”

“…Their basic principle is the selection of genetically optimal populations for specific conditions. For producers of hybrid pigs, it is necessary to perform these tests in the conditions of production farms, as they represent the most important form of pig production [ 6 ]. The phenotypic level of reproductive parameters in sows, losses of piglets, and parameters of weight and growth intensity in piglets are also influenced by other factors: the effect of sows (or maternal genetic effect), the effect of season, farm, or the effect of feeding strategies [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Effect of Season and Parity on Reproduction Performance of Iberian Sows Bred with Duroc Semen

“…Moreover, the use of Duroc semen could influence our results, as these boars show lower fertility than other commercial breeds [ 51 ]. Interestingly, we obtained an inverse distribution when studying the post-thawing semen quality of another autochthonous Spanish breed, the Gochu Asturcelta [ 19 ], with better post-thawing quality when the semen had been collected in spring and decreasing towards the winter.…”

Identification of genes related to intramuscular fat independent of backfat thickness in Duroc pigs using single‐step genome‐wide association

“…Duroc often serves as a terminal sire line in crossbred (Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)) pig production (Pedersen et al . 2019), which means that they contribute about half of the genetic material passed on to the offspring. Therefore, it will be beneficial and efficient to improve the IMF of Duroc pigs genetically.…”