No. 1 (2020)

Articles

Heat-No-Service: Reproductive lifetime performance of gilts inseminated on first versus second observed estrus in commercial piglet producing herds

Published May 20, 2020
Authors
Joab Malanda Osotsi
Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agricultural and Food sciences and Environmental Management. University of Debrecen, Hungary
, Péter Balogh
Institute of Sectoral Economics and Methodology, Faculty of Economics and Businesses, University of Debrecen, Hungary
, Gabriella Novotni Dankó
Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agricultural and Food sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, Hungary
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Keywords
Gilts Estrus Heat No Service Total born Lifetime performance
How to Cite
Selected stlye: APA
Osotsi, J. M., Balogh, P., & Novotni Dankó, G. (2020). Heat-No-Service: Reproductive lifetime performance of gilts inseminated on first versus second observed estrus in commercial piglet producing herds. Acta Agraria Debreceniensis, (1), 77–80. https://doi.org/10.34101/actaagrar/1/3731

Heat No Service (HNS) is an increasing managerial decision made in commercial piglet producing herds. Performance of gilts has been shown to be influenced by initial decisions made on them at their introduction in the breeding herds. Lifetime Reproductive performance comprising of parity total born piglets and lifetime total born piglets of gilts initially bred on first observed estrus (0HNS) was compared with that of gilts bred on second observed estrus (1HNS). Stored data from Porcitec database consisted of 2.072 gilts bred on first observed estrus (0HNS) and 2.453 gilts bred on second observed estrus (1HNS) totaling to 4.525 gilts. Data was statistically analyzed using the GLM procedure of IBM SPSS version 25. The results showed a significance difference (p<0.001) in lifetime total born performance of gilts bred at 0HNS (mean 93.9) and 1HNS (mean 95.7). There was also a significant difference (p<0.001) of total born piglets in parity 1, 5 and 6 in the 2 groups. There was an observed increased parity total born and lifetime total born when first time insemination of gilts was delayed to second estrus. The findings in this study favor the 1HNS breeding with an overall increased lifetime total born. Gilts inseminated at 1HNS produce 1.57 more pigs for lifetime as compared with those inseminated at 0HNS when observation is made up to P6. Producers in piglet producing herds could re examine their decisions for increased productivity by promoting many gilts into 1HNS but still maintaining the balance between breed targets and production schedules to remain competitive and profitable in the current global swine industry.

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