Animal Science Abstract
The impact of puerperal diseases in sows on their fertility and health up to next farrowing
S. Hoy1,A
AE-mail: Steffen.Hoy@agrar.uni-giessen.de
1Department of Animal Husbandry and Genetics, Justus Liebig University, Bismarckstrasse 16, D-35390 Giessen, GermanyAbstract
Investigations utilizing a total number of 3998 farrowings from 1558 sows on two farms have shown a frequency of puerperal diseases (periparturient hypogalactia syndrome = PHS) of 32.7% and 27.0% respectively with significant differences between gilts and sows. Sows without PHS after farrowing (farm A) had a lower frequency of animals without oestrus after weaning of the piglets (0.3 v. 1.1%), a lower rate of late onset of oestrus (3.4 % v. 5.9 %, P < 0.05), fewer sows had abortions (0.9 v. 2.3%, P < 0.05) and a lower mortality rate (1.2 v. 4.1%, P < 0.05) compared with sows which contracted puerperal diseases. The return rate was significantly lower in sows without PHS (12.4%, 16.1% in herds A and B) when compared with sows with puerperal diseases (15.8%, 21.7%, P < 0.05). Also, the litter size of live born piglets was lower in sows with PHS when compared with healthy sows (farm A: 10.42 v. 10.66, P > 0.05; farm B: 10.44 v. 10.80, P < 0.05)
Keywords: abortion, litter size, mortality, oestrus, puerperal disorders, sows.
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