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Reduced growth performance in gilt progeny is not improved by segregation from sow progeny in the grower–finisher phase

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2019

J. R. Craig Open the ORCID record for J. R. Craig [Opens in a new window] ,
R. J. E. Hewitt ,
T. L. Muller ,
J. J. Cottrell ,
F. R. Dunshea  and
J. R. Pluske
J. R. Craig*
Affiliation:
Research and Innovation, Rivalea (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Lot 411 Redlands Road, Corowa, New South Wales 2646, Australia Agricultural Sciences, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
R. J. E. Hewitt
Affiliation:
SunPork Solutions, 16-18 Riverland Drive, Loganholme, Queensland 4129, Australia
T. L. Muller
Affiliation:
SunPork Solutions, 16-18 Riverland Drive, Loganholme, Queensland 4129, Australia
J. J. Cottrell
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, 142 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
F. R. Dunshea
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, 142 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
J. R. Pluske
Affiliation:
Agricultural Sciences, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
*
†E-mail: jcraig@rivalea.com.au
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Abstract

Gilt progeny (GP) are born and weaned lighter than sow progeny (SP) and tend to have higher rates of mortality and morbidity. This study quantified the lifetime growth performance differences between GP and SP and, additionally, evaluated whether segregating GP and SP in the grower–finisher period compared to mixing them within common pens reduced this variation. It was hypothesised that GP would be lighter than SP at every stage and segregation would improve growth performance of both GP and SP. All piglets born to 61 gilts (parity 1) and 47 sows (parities 2 to 7; mean 3.5 ± 0.2) were allocated to four treatments at 10 weeks of age: (i) GP housed together (GG), (ii) GP mixed (M) with SP (GM), (iii) SP housed together (SS) and (iv) SP mixed with GP (SM). The GM and SM pigs were housed together in common pens after movement into the grower–finisher facility. Individual live weight of all progeny was recorded at birth, weaning (WWT), 10 weeks of age (10WT) and sale (SWT). Individual hot carcass weight (HCW), fat depth at the head of the last rib (P2) and dressing percentage were measured at slaughter. Gilt progeny were lighter at birth (P = 0.038), weaning (P < 0.001) and through to sale (P = 0.001) than SP. Nursery and grower–finisher performance differences in GP were highly attributable to their lower WWT compared to SP (P < 0.001 when fitted as a covariate). Segregation of GP and SP increased grower–finisher average daily gain (ADG) in SP but decreased ADG and SWT in GP (P < 0.10). Segregated SP had increased average daily feed intake but only in males (P = 0.007); HCW (P < 0.001) and P2 fat depth (P = 0.055) were higher in mixed female GP, but there was no difference (P > 0.10) in female SP, or in males. In conclusion, GP were lighter at every stage than SP and differences after weaning were highly related to the lighter WWT of GP. Under the conditions of this study, overall segregation of GP and SP showed no consistent advantages in growth performance for both groups and differed significantly between males and females.

Keywords

multiparous sowparitypigprimiparous sowweaning
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 13 , Issue 10 , October 2019 , pp. 2232 - 2241
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2019 

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