Genetic parameter analysis of reproductive traits in Large White pigs

Abstract

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine the genetic parameters for reproductive traits among Large White pigs, including the following traits: total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LBW), average birth weight (ABW), gestation length (GL), age at first service (AFS) and age at first farrowing (AFF).Methods: The dataset consisted of 19,036 reproductive records from 4,986 sows, and a multi-trait animal model was used to estimate genetic variance components of seven reproductive traits.Results: The heritability estimates for these reproductive traits ranged from 0.09 to 0.26, with the highest heritability for GL and AFF, and the lowest heritability for NBA. The repeatabilities for TNB, NBA, LWB, ABW, and GL were ranged from 0.16 to 0.34. Genetic and phenotypic correlations ranged from –0.41 to 0.99, and –0.34 to 0.98, respectively. In particular, the correlations between TNB, NBA and LBW, between AFS and AFF, exhibited a strong positive correlation. Furthermore, for TNB, NBA, LBW, ABW, and GL, genetic correlations of the same trait between different parities were moderately to strongly correlated (0.32 to 0.97), and the correlations of adjacent parities were higher than those of nonadjacent parities.Conclusion: All the results in the present study can be used as a basis for the genetic assessment of the target population. In the formulation of dam line selection index, AFS or AFF can be considered to combine with TNB in a multiple trait swine breeding value estimation system. Moreover, breeders are encouraged to increase the proportion of sows at parity 3-5 and reinforce the management of sows at parity 1 and parity ≥8.

Estimation of Genetic Parameters for Litter Traits in Taiwan Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire Pigs

“…The estimated h² for LWB in the Landrace (0.102±0.019) (Table 3) was lower than the estimated h² for LWB of 0.18 in the Japanese Landrace, while the estimated h² for LWB in Yorkshire (0.330±0.055) (Table 3) was higher than the estimated h² for LWB of 0.18 in Japanese Large White in the same study (Ogawa et al, 2019). In addition, the estimated h² for LWB in the present study was higher than those in Chinese Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire, which ranged from 0.07 to 0.11 (Zhang et al, 2020;Yu et al, 2022). The present study showed that the estimated h² for LW21D ranged from 0.119 to 0.237 (Table 3).…”

Estimation of heritabilities and additive genetic correlations for reproduction traits in swine: insights for tropical commercial production systems using multiple trait animal models

“…The heritability estimates for NBA, LTBW, NPW, and LTWW in our study were compared to previous research conducted in different populations, revealing both similarities and differences [ 14 – 17 ]. The heritability estimates from our study were slightly higher than those reported in a previous study involving a Landrace-Large White multibreed population in Northern Thailand [ 3 ].…”

Analysis of Reproduction Performance Traits in Sows of the CG36 Hybrid Line, Including the Effect of Selected Factors and Phenotypic Correlations

“…It also needs to be stated here that those authors observed dependencies between AFF and other reproduction traits, e.g., the total number of piglets born and reared by a sow over the entire productive life and farrowing interval. Also, Yu et al [53] reported correlations (positive ones) between age at first farrowing and the number of live-born piglets per litter, body weight of the piglet at birth, and litter weight at weaning. In this study, no correlation was observed between the age of the sow at first farrowing and other reproduction traits.…”