Cargando…

Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality

The current study evaluated interactions between farrowing duration and litter size on the level of asphyxia, vitality, percentage of stillbirth, and pre-weaning mortality of piglets. Farrowing duration was measured in 159 crossbred gilts and sows (Yorkshire × Dutch Landrace). Litter size ranged bet...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: van den Bosch, Moniek, van de Linde, Irene B., Kemp, Bas, van den Brand, Henry
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9071363/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35529832
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.836202
_version_ 1784700831136743424
author van den Bosch, Moniek
van de Linde, Irene B.
Kemp, Bas
van den Brand, Henry
author_facet van den Bosch, Moniek
van de Linde, Irene B.
Kemp, Bas
van den Brand, Henry
author_sort van den Bosch, Moniek
collection PubMed
description The current study evaluated interactions between farrowing duration and litter size on the level of asphyxia, vitality, percentage of stillbirth, and pre-weaning mortality of piglets. Farrowing duration was measured in 159 crossbred gilts and sows (Yorkshire × Dutch Landrace). Litter size ranged between 12 and 21 piglets. Blood acid–base parameters in umbilical cord blood and vitality scores of piglets were determined immediately after birth. Number of piglets born alive and stillborn as well as individual piglet weights at birth were recorded. Pre-weaning mortality (excluding stillbirth) was determined throughout lactation. Litter size as well as farrowing duration were categorized to evaluate the interaction between the two. There tended to be an interaction between litter size and farrowing duration for pre-weaning mortality (p = 0.10). In small litters (12–15 piglets), a prolonged farrowing duration (>250 min) tended to increase pre-weaning mortality compared with a short (<150 min) and medium farrowing duration (150–250 min), while for large litters (19–21 piglets), a medium to long farrowing duration tended to decrease pre-weaning mortality. No other interactions between litter size and farrowing duration were found. Piglets within large litters showed a higher umbilical cord lactate level (p < 0.01), lower average vitality score (p = 0.01), and a higher stillborn percentage (p < 0.01) compared with piglets within medium size (16–18 piglets) and small litters. Each additional piglet born to a litter linearly decreased average piglet birth weight (17.6 g, p < 0.01), increased farrowing duration (11 min, p < 0.01), and increased stillbirth (0.5%, p = 0.04). A medium farrowing duration resulted in a lower stillborn percentage compared with a short or prolonged farrowing duration, suggesting that farrowing duration might have an optimum. When analyzed linearly, stillborn percentage increased with 1.85% per every 100 min (p < 0.01) of farrowing duration. It can be concluded that both litter size and farrowing duration affect stillborn percentage, but independent from each other. However, these two factors tended to interact regarding pre-weaning mortality, suggesting that setting a certain threshold for maximal farrowing duration should be taken with care, because this appears to depend on litter size.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9071363
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-90713632022-05-06 Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality van den Bosch, Moniek van de Linde, Irene B. Kemp, Bas van den Brand, Henry Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science The current study evaluated interactions between farrowing duration and litter size on the level of asphyxia, vitality, percentage of stillbirth, and pre-weaning mortality of piglets. Farrowing duration was measured in 159 crossbred gilts and sows (Yorkshire × Dutch Landrace). Litter size ranged between 12 and 21 piglets. Blood acid–base parameters in umbilical cord blood and vitality scores of piglets were determined immediately after birth. Number of piglets born alive and stillborn as well as individual piglet weights at birth were recorded. Pre-weaning mortality (excluding stillbirth) was determined throughout lactation. Litter size as well as farrowing duration were categorized to evaluate the interaction between the two. There tended to be an interaction between litter size and farrowing duration for pre-weaning mortality (p = 0.10). In small litters (12–15 piglets), a prolonged farrowing duration (>250 min) tended to increase pre-weaning mortality compared with a short (<150 min) and medium farrowing duration (150–250 min), while for large litters (19–21 piglets), a medium to long farrowing duration tended to decrease pre-weaning mortality. No other interactions between litter size and farrowing duration were found. Piglets within large litters showed a higher umbilical cord lactate level (p < 0.01), lower average vitality score (p = 0.01), and a higher stillborn percentage (p < 0.01) compared with piglets within medium size (16–18 piglets) and small litters. Each additional piglet born to a litter linearly decreased average piglet birth weight (17.6 g, p < 0.01), increased farrowing duration (11 min, p < 0.01), and increased stillbirth (0.5%, p = 0.04). A medium farrowing duration resulted in a lower stillborn percentage compared with a short or prolonged farrowing duration, suggesting that farrowing duration might have an optimum. When analyzed linearly, stillborn percentage increased with 1.85% per every 100 min (p < 0.01) of farrowing duration. It can be concluded that both litter size and farrowing duration affect stillborn percentage, but independent from each other. However, these two factors tended to interact regarding pre-weaning mortality, suggesting that setting a certain threshold for maximal farrowing duration should be taken with care, because this appears to depend on litter size. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-21 /pmc/articles/PMC9071363/ /pubmed/35529832 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.836202 Text en Copyright © 2022 van den Bosch, van de Linde, Kemp and van den Brand. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
van den Bosch, Moniek
van de Linde, Irene B.
Kemp, Bas
van den Brand, Henry
Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title_full Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title_fullStr Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title_full_unstemmed Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title_short Disentangling Litter Size and Farrowing Duration Effects on Piglet Stillbirth, Acid–Base Blood Parameters and Pre-Weaning Mortality
title_sort disentangling litter size and farrowing duration effects on piglet stillbirth, acid–base blood parameters and pre-weaning mortality
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9071363/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35529832
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.836202
work_keys_str_mv AT vandenboschmoniek disentanglinglittersizeandfarrowingdurationeffectsonpigletstillbirthacidbasebloodparametersandpreweaningmortality
AT vandelindeireneb disentanglinglittersizeandfarrowingdurationeffectsonpigletstillbirthacidbasebloodparametersandpreweaningmortality
AT kempbas disentanglinglittersizeandfarrowingdurationeffectsonpigletstillbirthacidbasebloodparametersandpreweaningmortality
AT vandenbrandhenry disentanglinglittersizeandfarrowingdurationeffectsonpigletstillbirthacidbasebloodparametersandpreweaningmortality