Boar contact is an effective stimulant of ovulation during early lactation

Boar contact is an effective stimulant of ovulation during early lactation

The efficacy of 400IU equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) and 200IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) (PG600; Intervet, Australia) and boar exposure as stimuli of oestrus and ovulation have been established in pre-pubertal gilts and weaned sows, but there is little published data on their use to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock science Vol. 155; no. 2-3; pp. 454 - 458
Main Authors: van Wettere, W.H.E.J., Kaisler-Smith, C.R., Terry, R., Weaver, A.C., Herde, P.J., Kennaway, D.J., Hughes, P.E., Kind, K.L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01-08-2013
Subjects:
anestrus
Boar contact
boars
early lactation
equine chorionic gonadotropin
estrus
farrowing crates
gilts
Gonadotrophins
human chorionic gonadotropin
Lactation oestrus
Large White
litter size
ovulation
parturition
Pig
piglets
progesterone
Sow
sows
standing reflex
weaning
Sow
Lactation oestrus
Gonadotrophins
Boar contact
Pig
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Summary:The efficacy of 400IU equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) and 200IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) (PG600; Intervet, Australia) and boar exposure as stimuli of oestrus and ovulation have been established in pre-pubertal gilts and weaned sows, but there is little published data on their use to overcome lactation anoestrus. Designed as a 2×2 factorial, the current study used 40 Large White/Landrace sows (parity 1.9±0.14), to determine the effects of boar exposure (BE) versus NoBE and PG600 versus NoPG600 on the incidence of lactation oestrus and ovulation. On day 1 of lactation, PG600 was administered and BE commenced. Throughout lactation all sows were housed individually in farrowing crates (0.6×2.4m2). BE consisted of 15min of daily, full physical boar exposure in a detection mating area. For all sows, litter size suckled was standardized to 10 piglets on day 1 of lactation, and maintained at this level until weaning on day 26 post-partum. Oestrus detection was performed daily, with oestrus defined as the exhibition of a standing reflex, and ovulation confirmed when progesterone concentrations exceeded 1.0ng/ml on day 3 and 4.0ng/ml on day 10 post-oestrus detection. There was no effect of PG600 on any reproductive measures, and no interactions with the BE treatment. A higher proportion of BE compared to non-BE sows exhibited a behavioural oestrus without ovulation within 5 days of parturition (0.83 versus 0.09; P<0.05). The interval from parturition to lactation ovulation was unaffected by treatment (15.4±1.21 days). However, BE increased the proportion of sows ovulating during lactation (0.61 versus 0.09; P<0.05), and resulted in an earlier ovulation relative to parturition (20.6±1.30 versus 30.1±1.35 days) compared to non-BE sows. In conclusion, this is the first study to demonstrate that taking lactating sows to a detection mating area for 15min of daily, physical boar contact resulted in a high incidence of lactation ovulation within 22 days of parturition.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2013.04.017
ISSN:1871-1413
1878-0490
DOI:10.1016/j.livsci.2013.04.017