Identification of a female-pig profile associated with lower productivity on commercial farms.

Abstract

At-risk female pigs were defined as females having characteristics of at least one of the four subgroups: females with reservices, lactation length (LL) 0-13 days, weaning-to-first-mating interval (WMI) > or = 8 days, and abortion records. These females may have suboptimal reproductive performance. This study examined reproductive performance in at-risk females, and the relationships between at-risk females, parity, season of mating, and the four subgroups. From 117 farms, 102,494 parity records were categorized into at-risk females and non-at-risk females. Statistical mixed models were used to analyze reproductive performance. Of the 102,494 records, 19.6% were at-risk females. At-risk females had at least 11.1% lower farrowing rates than non-at-risk females among all parities and seasons of mating (P<0.05). As parity increased from 1 to > or = 6, farrowing rate in at-risk females decreased from 74.1 to 62.9%, while the farrowing rate in non-at-risk females decreased from 87.3 to 82.0% (P<0.05). There was no difference in the number of pigs born alive between at-risk females and non-at-risk females (P=0.810). Females at Parity 1 and those that mated during summer had the highest proportion of becoming at-risk females (P<0.001). Gilts and sows with abortion records had at least 39.3% lower farrowing rates than those with non-abortion records (P<0.001). Among the LL 0-13 days, the farrowing rate was below 70% regardless of WMI. Monitoring and reducing at-risk females is an opportunity for producers to improve herd productivity.