• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.49-52
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• 1994

This study was carried out to compare farrowing rate and litter traits for European and American lines with boar sperm frozen in straws. Farrowing rate, litter size and mean pig weght at birth and 21 days were investigated. A total of 36 gilts Landrace, Large white and Duroc were investigated at the Chungnam Provincial Animal Breeding Station. We obtained higher farrowing rate and litter traits for European line boars compared to American line boars.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1519-1524
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• 2015

It is well known that prepartum sows have an innate motivation to build a nest before parturition. Under commercial conditions, however, the farrowing crate, which is widely used in modern pig husbandry, inhibits this innate behaviour through the lack of space, materials, or both. Thus, restriction of nest-building behaviour could generate increased stress, resulting in a decrease in maternal endogenous hormones. Hence, it could lead to detrimental effects on farrowing and lactating performance. Here we review interactions between prepartum nest-building behaviour, stress and maternal endogenous hormone levels, and discuss their effects on parturition, lactation, and welfare of sows and offspring.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 1991

This experiment was conducted to find out the time to farrowing induction after PGF2$\alpha$ treatment, the rate of farrowing induction, the effect of kids born by the induced farrowing on birth weight and development with study on artificial control of parturition in Korean native goats. A total of 24 pluriparous goats were offered for this experiment. The animals were divided into 4 goats per treatment by administration time(142, 145 or 148 day of pregnancy) and dosage (5 or 7.5mg). The results obtained in this experiments were as follows : 1. The effect of synchronization of estrus was induced 23 goats(95.1%), 16 goats(66.6%) in the 1st treatment and 7 goats(28.5%) in the 2nd treatment PGF2$\alpha$ and exhibited estrus at a mean interval of 75$\pm$5 hours after PGF2$\alpha$ injection. 2. The time to farrowing induction after PGF2$\alpha$ treatment on day 145 or 148 was significantly(P<0.01) shorter than that of the 5mg treatment, but there was no significant difference(P>0.01). 3. Parturition was induced in all goats(100%) treated 5 or 7.5mg of PGF2$\alpha$ on day 148 and 7.5mg of PGF2$\alpha$ on day 145, but was induced 75% in treatment with 5mg of PGF2$\alpha$ on day 145 and 5 or 7.5mg of F2$\alpha$ on day 142. 4. The birth weight and development of kids induced farrowing was heaviest (P<0.01) on days 148 among treatment, but there was no significant difference in dosage.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.12
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• pp.45.1-45.5
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• 2015

Background: Physical and chemical properties of feedstuffs can be changed by feed processing. Moreover, through various mechanisms, feed processing can affect growth performance and feed efficiency of swine, nutrition value of the feed. Weaning-to service-intervals (WSI), subsequent farrowing rates, and total-born litter sizes were determined by feed intake and metabolic state during lactation. Methods: A total of 20 sows (Landrace ${\times}$ Yorkshire) with an average body weight (BW) of 266.1 kg 4 d before farrowing were used to determine the effect of feed processing on the performance of lactating sows and their offspring. The following two dietary treatments were used: 1) Crumble diet (C); and 2) Mash diet (M). Ten replications were used for each treatment. Back fat thickness of sows was measured 6 cm off the midline at the 10th rib using a real-time ultrasound instrument at 4 d before farrowing, 1 d after farrowing, and during weaning. Sow BW were also checked at 4 d before farrowing, 1 d after farrowing, and during weaning. Fecal score of sows were assessed on d 14. Fecal score of piglets were observed on d 7, 15, and 24. Data were analyzed using t-test procedure of SAS (2014) with sow as experimental unit. Results: No significant (p > 0.05) difference was observed in the reproduction performance of sows between the two treatments. In addition, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the growth performance of piglets between the two treatments. Fecal score of sows or piglets showed no significant (p > 0.05) difference either. Conclusions: In conclusion, different feed processing (mash or crumble) did not make any significant difference on the performance of lactation sow or their piglets.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2000

To improve the pig farm management and efficiency of swine industry by inducing the farrowing to day-time from night, In the first experiment, reproduction records of purebred and crossbred pigs were collected and analyzed to estimate the $\varepsilon$ ffec 잉 of factors affecting day and night farrowing. The general linear model was used to estimate the least square means of the factors affecting various reproductive characteristics. And also, chi-square tests were used to examine the independence of the reproductive traits and environmental factors using the SAS (1992). The comparisons between pure and crossbred pigs for total number born, percentage of number born alive, gestation length, time length for farrowing were determined. The results indicated that the gestation length of crossbred (115.11 d) was slightly longer than that of purebred (114.89 d, p＜0.05). For the seasonal effects on total number born, the largest was found in spring and no differences were found among summer, fall and winter. The average gestation length was 1 day longer in spring and winter than in summer and fall. The total number born and number born alive were smaller in first, second, and greater or equal to sixth parity than other parities. And also, the percentage of no. born alive was least in greater or equal to sixth parity. For the effect of mating methods, natural and artificial insemination, on total number born and number born alive, no differences between the two methods were found. However, the percentage of number born alive for natural mating was 98.06% and was higher than artificial insemination(93.75%). The time length for farrowing was I hour were found for the 6 hrs of farrowing time. In general situation of pig farms, day-time farrowing was 34.8% and night farrowing was 65.2%, indicating that night farrowing was almost double of the night farrowing.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.574-587
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• 2022

This study was performed to development the alternative farrowing pen (AFP) and to investigate performance and behavior of lactating sows and their litter. A total of 64 multiparous sows were randomly divided into two groups and were allocated to farrowing crates (FCs) and AFPs. The AFPs contained a crate and support bars that could be folded to provide the sows with extra space on day 5 postpartum. Behavior was recorded by charge-coupled device cameras and digital video recorders, and the data were scanned every 2 min to obtain an instantaneous behavioral sample. Farrowing systems did not affect feed intake, back-fat thickness, litter size and piglet weight at birth and weaning (p > 0.05). In addition, there were no differences in the number of crushed piglets between the two farrowing systems (p > 0.05). However, the weaning-to-estrus interval was shorter in the sows of the AFPs than in thous of the FCs (p < 0.05). The sows spent most of their time lying down during the lactating period, at about 80% lateral recumbency and 10%-15% ventral recumbency. The only significant differences were in the feeding and drinking behavior between sows in the two farrowing systems (p < 0.05). The FC sows displayed more feeding and drinking behavior than the AFP sows, especially in the late lactating period (p < 0.05). Piglets in the FCs tended to spend more time walking than piglets in the AFPs (p < 0.05), whereas there were no differences in suckling and lying behavior between piglets in the two farrowing systems (p > 0.05). It is concluded that the AFPs with temporary crating until day 4 postpartum did not negatively affect performance and crushed piglet compared with the FCs. It also may improve animal welfare by allowing sows to move and turn around during the lactating period. Further research is needed to find suitable housing designs to enhance productivity and animal welfare.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1067-1078
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• 2003

This study was designed to determine the effect of gestation housing and parity on the farrowing performance and behaviour of sows during pregnancy, farrowing and lactation periods. Total 18 Duroc sows were randomly assigned after 4 weeks of gestation to either an individual gestation stall or a groups of three with pen gestation system for three parities(1st, 2nd${\sim}$3rd, and 4th${\sim}$5th). Approximately 7 days before predicted farrowing date, sows were transferred to farrowing crates where they remained until 21 days post-partum. Behaviour was recorded on day 60 and 90 of pregnancy for 24 hours, on day of farrowing for farrowing duration and on day 10 of lactation for 2.5 hours in the farrowing crate. The results obtained from this study were summarized as follows: On 60 and 90 day of pregnancy, all sows in both groups made attempts for ventral lying more than for other postures. Sows in the group gestation pen spent more time on walking than those in individual gestation stall(p<0.01); however, the group housed sows were spent less time on drinking than the individually housed sows(p<0.01). There was no significant difference between gestation housings in the occurrence of stereotypy of pregnant sows. On day 60 of pregnancy, sows in the individual gestation stall showed the highest frequency of vacuum chewing and head weaving. However, floor licking and bar licking behaviours were highest in day 90 pregnant sows individually housed. The sows individually housed during the gestation period spent more time on sitting and eating on the day of farrowing in the farrowing crate than the sows group housed. On day 10 of lactation in the farrowing crate, the group housed sows during the gestation period made significantly more attempts for ventral lying than sows individually housed. In conclusion, the occurrence of stereotypy of sows during the gestation and lactation did not differ between gestation housings and farrowing performance of sows during the gestation period was not affected by gestation housing. Thus, the group housing for pregnant sows is a feasible means to improve welfare of sows and to increase the normal behaviour of sows.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.862-874
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• 2024

Objective: This study evaluated the effect of Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) supplementation in sow diets before and after farrowing on the sow and piglets' performances during early postpartum period and on sows' backfat and longissimus muscle losses during lactation. Methods: Seventy Landrace×Yorkshire sows and their offspring (1,186 piglets) were distributed into three groups: control (n = 31), treatment-250 (n = 18), and treatment-1000 (n = 21). From 110.2±0.7 days of gestation until farrowing (5.8 days) and throughout the lactation period (25.2 days), sows in the control group were given the conventional lactation diet, while sows in the treatment-250 and treatment-1000 groups received supplements of 250 ppm and 1,000 ppm of A. paniculata, respectively. Results: In sows with parity 3-5, piglets from the treatment-1000 group had higher colostrum intake than the control and treatment-250 groups (p<0.05), but not in sows with parity 6-9. Colostrum immunoglobulin G (IgG) increased in treated sows versus controls for parity 6-9 (p<0.05), but was consistent for parity 3-5. Piglet performance until day 3 postnatal was similar across groups (p>0.05). Treatment-250 sows had higher feed intake post-farrowing than treatment-1000 sows (p<0.05). Longissimus loss was less in both treatment groups than control (p<0.05), but backfat loss was similar across groups (p>0.05). Post-partum complications were consistent across groups (p>0.05). Farrowing duration and piglet birth intervals in sows with parity 6-9 were prolonged in the treatment-1000 group. Conclusion: Supplementing with 1,000 ppm A. paniculata for 5.8 days pre-farrowing and 25.2 days post-farrowing enhanced sow colostrum IgG and piglet colostrum intake, while also reducing longissimus loss in sows. However, for sows of parity 6-9, this supplementation led to prolonged farrowing, increased intervals between piglet births, increased stillbirth, and reduced piglet birth weight. These effects should be considered when using A. paniculata supplementation.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 1988

This study was carried out to investigate the fertility and farrowing date in post-weaning sows using PG600 and inseminated with frozen semen. A total of 48 sows of Landrace, Large White and Duroc after 7-week lactation were used at the Chungnam Provincial Animal Breeding Station. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Motility had no significant differences between the breeds, but NAR acrosome was highest in Landrace, followed by Duroc and Large White(p<.01). 2. Interval from weaning to estrus and length of estrus were, respectively, 3.7 days and 52.6hours of sows treated with PG600, and 6.5 days and 53.8 hours for control sows. The average interval from weaning to onset of estrus was significantly(p<.01) shorter by 2.8 days in PG600 treated sows compared to control sows. 3. In Landrace, Duroc and Large White, farrowing rate and number of pigs born alive per litter were 55.0%, 10.0; 43.8%, 8.1; and 16.7%, 3.5, respectively. Average pig weight at birth and survival rate at 56 days had no significant differences between the breeds. 4. Farrowing rate, number of pigs born alive per litter, average pig weight at birth and survival rate at 56 days were, respectivey, 45.8%, 101, 1.56kg and 94.5% for sows treated with PG600, and 37.5%, 7.0, 1.66kg and 93.8% for control sows. Sows treated with PG 600 had an average of 3.1 more pigs at farrowing compared to control sows.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2010

This study was conducted to estimate the effect of the breed, sire-breeds, farrowing year, farrowing season and parity on number of born alive (NBA), number of weaning (NW) and survival rates of weaning (SRW) in swine. The data were obtained from 46,704 litters of the Landrace, Yorkshire, Duroc and Cross breed farrowed from 1996 to 2005 at 142 GP are registered in Korean Animal Improvement Association (KAIA). There was highly significant effect of breed, sire breed, farrowing year, farrowing season and parity on NBA, NW, SRW (p<0.01). The result of this study could be available to genetic improvement of reproductive traits as a basic reference in Korean pig industry. To achieve the more effective improvement of reproductive traits, additional research such as genetic parameter evaluation should be performed.