Investigation of a simplified artificial lighting programme to improve the fertility of sows in commercial piggeries

Abstract

Two artificial lighting regimens were studied in a commercial unit of 800 sows. The aim was to develop a simplified lighting regimen to overdrive the effects of season on reproduction. A long-day group had a constant 16 hours light and eight hours dark photoperiod in all units during a production cycle. A short-day group had eight hours of light and 16 hours darkness in a farrowing unit for four weeks and in a mating unit for four weeks. After one month of pregnancy the short-day group was transferred to 16 hours light and eight hours dark for the rest of the dry-sow period. Production data were collected for eight months, and the farrowing rate, weaning to oestrus interval, culling rate for fertility problems and the number of live-born piglets were analysed. Seasonal infertility, which had previously affected the herd, was not detected in either group during the follow-up period. The farrowing rate was 90 per cent for both groups. The median weaning to oestrus interval was five days in both lighting regimens with ranges from four to 74 days in the short-day group and three to 55 days in the long-day group. The long-day programme had a positive effect on the weaning to oestrus interval. When the sows were classified as either "normal", with a weaning to oestrus interval of up to 10 days, or "problem" animals, with a weaning to oestrus interval of over 10 days, the short-day programme also had a positive effect. The culling rate for fertility problems was 2.4 per cent for the short-day group and 3.2 per cent for the long-day group (P=0.027). The only significant predictor for the number of live-born piglets was parity (P=0.027).

Effect of variability in lighting and temperature environments for mature gilts housed in gestation crates on measures of reproduction and animal well-being1

“…Diurnal effects in the pig have been shown as exposure of pigs to approximately 250 lx during either their natural daytime or nighttime phases results in changes in the pulse frequency of LH in response to estradiol (Evans et al, 1994). In late gestation, exposure to short or long photoperiod in the range of 32 to 266 lx was observed to improve the synchrony (Stevenson et al, 1983) and proportion of sows expressing estrus after weaning (Tast et al, 2005) in response to season of year (Prunier et al, 1994).…”

Programas De Luz Para Suínos Em Crescimento

“…Van Putten (1980) não evidenciou que o repertório comportamental dos suínos e, indiretamente, seu bem-estar, sejam afetados pela presença ou ausência de luz. Por outro lado, Tast et al (2005) trabalhando com fêmeas em reprodução observaram efeitos positivos ao fornecerem 16 horas de luz para os animais. No Brasil, poucos estudos foram realizados avaliando os efeitos do fornecimento de luz para suínos (Furlan et al 1986a e b;Sousa Jr. et al 2011;Amaral, 2012).…”

The effects of season and moderate nutritional restriction on ovarian function and oocyte nuclear maturation in cycling gilts

“…The adverse effects of seasonal infertility on the reproductive efficiency of breeding sows are well established [14][15][16]. However, there is little information on how season affects the ovarian physiology and oocyte developmental competence [17].…”