Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
Mol Reprod Dev. 2023 Jul;90(7):585-593. doi: 10.1002/mrd.23565. Epub 2022 Mar 25.
Litter-of-origin variables refer to unique characteristics of piglets between birth and weaning. They also are associated with reproductive organ development, so it seems plausible that they should influence lifetime productivity. Birthweight exhibited positive relationships with total sperm per ejaculate and total pigs produced over three parities for boars and sows, respectively. There were minimum birthweights below which the likelihood of future reproductive success was low so its use as an early selection criterion to exclude replacements with poor lifetime potential merits consideration. Colostrum is critical for normal adult reproductive physiology, and its intake can be estimated by measuring immunocrit levels after birth. Immunocrit had positive linear relationships with total pigs born alive over four parities in sows and total sperm produced per ejaculate in boars. Consequently, management strategies that enhance both the quality and quantity of colostrum consumed hold considerable potential for improving lifetime productivity. Results from both retrospective and prospective studies demonstrated that preweaning growth and weaning weight were associated positively with the development of reproductive organs, adult reproductive processes, and lifetime productivity. These should be, perhaps, the easiest to improve from a management perspective through the implementation of strategic cross-fostering, split-nursing, or supplemental feeding techniques.
窝仔特性是指仔猪在出生到断奶期间所具有的独特特征。这些特性也与生殖器官的发育有关，因此，它们应该会影响终生生产力，这似乎是合理的。公猪的窝仔初生重与每射精精液中的总精子数和三胎总产仔数呈正相关，母猪的窝仔初生重与每胎总产仔数和三胎总产仔数呈正相关。存在一个最低的窝仔初生重，如果低于这个值，未来繁殖成功的可能性就会降低，因此，将其用作排除未来繁殖潜力较差的后备猪的早期选择标准是值得考虑的。初乳对正常的成年生殖生理至关重要，其摄入量可以通过出生后测量免疫球蛋白水平来估计。在母猪中，免疫球蛋白水平与四胎总产仔数和每射精精液中的总精子数呈正线性相关，在公猪中，免疫球蛋白水平与每射精精液中的总精子数呈正线性相关。因此，提高初乳的质量和数量的管理策略，对于提高终生生产力具有很大的潜力。回顾性和前瞻性研究的结果表明，断奶前的生长和断奶体重与生殖器官的发育、成年生殖过程和终生生产力呈正相关。从管理角度来看，通过实施战略性寄养、分割哺乳或补充喂养技术，这些指标可能是最容易改善的。
