Abstract:
In order to study the effects of parity, mating season and parity, farrowing season and parity on reproductive performance of Large white pigs, 7 373 litters of Large white sows from a pig farm in Henan Province were selected for this experiment, including 7 traits: total litter size, live litter size, weak litter size, stillbirths size, newborn litter weight, weaned piglets and corrected 21-day-old litter weight. The effects of parity, mating season and parity, farrowing season and parity on reproductive performance of Large white pigs and the correlations among the above 7 reproductive performance traits were analyzed. The results showed that the total litter size and live litter size of 2nd and 3rd parities were higher and significantly higher than those of other parities(P>0.05 or P<0.05); newborn litter weight of the 3rd parity was significantly higher than that of other parities(P<0.05); the best performance were 2nd and 3rd parities, followed by 4th and 5th parities, and the worse were 1th and more than 5 parities.The total litter size, live litter size and newborn litter weight at 2th and 5th parities in spring mating were higher or significantly higher than those of other parities(P>0.05 or P<0.05); the total litter size(except 2th parities in autumn), live litter size and newborn litter weight of 2nd and 3rd parities in summer and autumn were higher or significantly higher than those of other parities(P>0.05 or P<0.05).The 2nd parity was suitable for mating in summer; the 3rd parities was suitable for mating in summer and autumn; the 4th parity was suitable for mating in winter, and the 5th parity was suitable in spring; the 1st parity and more than 5 parities are suitable in winter. The total litter size, live litter size of 3rd parity in spring parturition was higher and significantly higher than those of other parities(P>0.05 or P<0.05), and the live litter size, newborn litter weight and weaned piglets at 2nd, 3rd and 5th parities in summer, autumn and winter were higher and significantly higher than those of other parities(P>0.05 or P<0.05).The 2nd parity was suitable for farrowing in autumn; the 3rd parity was suitable for farrowing in winter; the 4th parity was suitable in spring; the 5th parity was suitable for farrowing in summer; and 1st parity and more than 5 parities were suitable in summer. The farrowing season had no significant relation on the live litter size and newborn litter weight(P>0.05), but the parity, and the interaction between the mating season, parities, and farrowing season had significant or extremely significant relation on the 7 traits(P<0.05 or P<0.01). There were significant or extremely significant positive and negative correlations among most 7 traits(P<0.05 or P<0.01). The results indicated that the 2nd parity with good litter performance was suitable for summer mating and autumn farrowing; the 3rd parity was suitable for summer and autumn mating, farrowing in winter; the 4th parity was suitable for winter mating and farrowing in summer, the 5th parity with poor litter performance was suitable for spring mating and farrowing in summer, and the 1st parity and more than 5 parities with poor litter performance were suitable for winter mating and farrowing in summer.