Factors affecting length of productive life in Swedish commercial sows1

Engblom, Linda; Lundeheim, N.; Strandberg, E.; Schneider, Maria del Pilar; Dalin, Anne-Marie; Andersson, Kjell

doi:10.2527/jas.2007-0310

Cited by 81 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…All these herds bought their genetic material from the Swedish pig-breeding organization, Quality Genetics (QG; Hö rby, Sweden). Data from these 16 herds have also been included in a larger study (21 herds) investigating the longevity (Engblom et al, 2008) and removal pattern of crossbred (Landrace 3 Yorkshire) sows (Engblom et al, 2007). A detailed description of the 21 herds, covering housing system and management has been presented earlier (Engblom et al, 2007).…”

Section: Herdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of crossbred sow longevity

Engblom

Lundeheim

Schneider

et al. 2009

Animal

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The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for longevity from Swedish crossbred sows to investigate the possibilities of selecting for this trait. Data were collected from 16 commercial piglet-producing herds, on crossbred (Landrace 3 Yorkshire) sows farrowing in the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2004. The data set with records on 10 373 sows was split into two sets according to the breed of the sire, i.e. Landrace sires (LS) or Yorkshire sires (YS). Removal hazard during productive life (PL) was analysed with survival analysis, using a sire model. Stayability from first to second litter (STAY12), stayability from first to third litter (STAY13), length of productive life (LPL) and lifetime production (LTP) were analysed with linear models, using an animal model. Females after the worst sire had 1.7 times higher (progeny of LS) and 2.4 times higher (progeny of YS) risk of removal than females after the best sire. Heritability for PL was estimated at 0.06 (LS) and 0.12 (YS). The heritabilities for the linear longevity traits ranged from 0.03 to 0.08. Genetic correlations between the four linear longevity traits were all high and positive (0.6 to 1.0), as were the phenotypic correlations (0.5 to 0.8). The correlations (Spearman rank) between the sire's estimated breeding values for all the five longevity traits were all significant (P , 0.001) and moderate to strong in both data sets. Estimated breeding value (EBV) correlations between the five longevity traits and traits included in the present Swedish breeding evaluation (Quality Genetics (QG)) were significant in a few cases. Significant and favourable EBV correlations were found between age at first farrowing and both STAY12 and STAY13 (20.20 and 20.31), as well as between litter weight at 3 weeks and LPL and LTP (0.13 to 0.20). Significant and unfavourable EBV correlations were found between age at 100 kg and STAY12 (0.32), as well as between the exterior conformation score from testing station and PL (20.20). The level of the estimated heritabilities for longevity indicates that genetic improvement of sow longevity would be possible. However, overall, there was no strong indirect selection for sow longevity with the current Swedish breeding evaluation (QG).

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Section: Herdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of crossbred sow longevity

Engblom

Lundeheim

Schneider

et al. 2009

Animal

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“…A Swedish study (Engblom et al, 2008) showed that 9% of all cullings in conventional systems were due to lameness; and in US herds the proportion of sows culled in response to locomotive problems was 15.2% in 200615.2% in (USDA, 2007. In Danish herds lameness is again one of the main reasons for culling sows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herd- and sow-related risk factors for lameness in organic and conventional sow herds

Knage-Rasmussen

Houe

Rousing

et al. 2014

Animal

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Lameness in sows is an animal welfare problem which also presents an economic challenge to pig producers. Information about the prevalence of herd lameness in organic sows is relatively scarce. The first objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of lameness and to identify risk factors associated with sow lameness in Danish outdoor organic sow herds by analysing the association between risk factors at both sow and herd level using clinical records of lameness. A total of 1850 sows from nine organic herds were included in the study. Second, the study examined differences in the prevalence of sow lameness between outdoor organic and indoor conventional herds. An additional aim here was to identify risk factors associated with clinical records of sow lameness in Danish sow herds by analysing the association between risk factors with lameness at sow and herd level. One thousand and fifty four gestation sows from 44 indoor conventional and nine organic sow herds were included in this study. The nine organic herds were visited twice: once in summer/autumn 2011, and once in winter/spring 2012. In winter/spring 2011, a total of 44 indoor conventional herds were visited. Risk factors included in the study were clinical parameters and factors related to the production system. Sows were examined visually by one of four trained observers. The organic sows were assigned scores for lameness, body condition, hoof length, bursitis, abscesses and leg wounds, while the conventional sows were assigned scores for lameness, body condition and bursitis. A multivariable analysis was carried out by logistic regression with the herd and observer as random effects. The average herd lameness prevalence in gestation and lactation sows in organic herds was 11% in summer/ autumn and 4.6% in winter/spring. 'Wounds, bursitis and abscess' on legs (OR = 4.7, P < 0.001) and body condition score >3 (OR = 1.79, P = 0.008) were associated with increased risk of lameness in Danish organic sow herds. Season (winter/spring v. summer/autumn) lowered the risk of lameness (OR = 0.37, P < 0.001). Average prevalence of lameness in gestation sow herds in winter/spring in conventional herds was 24.4%, and in organic herds it was 5.4%. An organic sow had a decreased risk of lameness (OR = 0.28, P < 0.001) as compared with a conventional sow. Bursitis was associated with increased risk of lameness (OR = 2.08, P = 0.002) regardless of the production system (i.e. whether the herd was organic or conventional).

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“…Although the impact of claw lesions on sow longevity, lameness (Anil et al 2007;Anil et al 2009) and increased risk of culling (Engblom et al 2008) is established, there are only sparse reports on their associations with reproduction efficiency parameters. Previous studies reported the association of heel lesions and wall cracks with decreased litter weight, increased pre-weaning piglet mortality and higher odds of stillborn piglets (Fitzgerald et al 2012;Pluym et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lameness is an animal-based welfare indicator (Welfare Quality ® consortium 2009) which reduces the productivity of a pig herd by reducing sow longevity and the number of pigs produced per sow per year due to increased involuntary culling rates of sows (Anil et al 2005;Engblom et al 2008). Some claw lesions were also associated with decreased litter weight, increased pre-weaning piglet mortality and higher odds of stillborn and crushed piglets (Fitzgerald et al 2012;Pluym et al 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between claw lesions and reproductive performance of sows in three Greek herds

Lisgara¹,

Skampardonis²,

Angelidou³

et al. 2015

Vet. Med. - Czech

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ABSTRACT:Claw lesions, which are nowadays very common in sows, are associated with a high risk of early culling and compromised welfare. In this study, we investigated the associations between the severity of claw lesions and three of the most important reproductive indicators, the number of live-born and weaned piglets and the wean-to-first service interval in three Greek farrow-to-finish herds. All studied sows were individually housed during their previous gestations. Sows were examined for lesions, which were scored on a severity scale, on several anatomical sites of the claws, before farrowing. Data on the examined reproductive indicators were retrieved from productivity databases of the herds. Because scoring of lesions on several claw sites resulted in many correlated variables for each sow examined, we employed factor analysis to create a smaller set of uncorrelated variables (factors) which contained all the information in the original variables and produced the corresponding factor scores. The number of live-born and weaned piglets was associated with the produced factor scores in two multivariable linear regression models, whereas the possible associations between the wean-to-first service interval and the factor scores was modelled with the use of zero-inflated negative binomial regression. The number of live-born piglets was negatively associated with factor scores representing lesions on heel (P ≤ 0.001) and sole of front feet (P = 0.019). The number of weaned piglets was also negatively associated with factor scores representing lesions on heel (P = 0.003) of any foot, on sole of front feet (P = 0.001) and on white line, sole and wall of rear feet (P = 0.008), while the wean-to-first service interval was associated with factor scores representing lesions on heel of any foot (P = 0.02), on sole of front feet (P = 0.02) and of dew claw length of front feet (P = 0.009). Our results indicate that combinations of lesions on the dorsal and ventral part of the claws, negatively affected the reproduction parameters considered, emphasising the importance of general improvement of feet health.

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Factors affecting length of productive life in Swedish commercial sows1

Cited by 81 publications

References 15 publications

Genetics of crossbred sow longevity

Genetics of crossbred sow longevity

Herd- and sow-related risk factors for lameness in organic and conventional sow herds

Associations between claw lesions and reproductive performance of sows in three Greek herds

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