• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.917-922
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• 2003

This study was conducted to investigate effects of farm, type of sow Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire, LY; Yorkshire${\times}$ Landrace, YL; Yorkshire${\times}$Yorkshire, YY and multi-cross bred sow, MBS), parity, farrowing year, farrowing season and mating method on reproductive traits such as total number born per litter, number of born alive per litter, number of weaned per litter, number of mummified per litter, number of stillbirth. The Reproductive Records of 3,387 litters from January, 1999 to September, 2002 were obtained from four pig farms managed by Electronic Data Processing(EDP) system. Reproductive performances for two types of F1 Sows(YL and LY) were estimated as 11.34${\pm}$0.266 and 11.57${\pm}$0.263 heads for total number of born per litter, 10.56${\pm}$0.216 and 11.81${\pm}$0.251 heads for number of born alive per litter, and 10.05${\pm}$0.131 and 9.96${\pm}$0.153 heads for number of weaned per litter, respectively. These records are significantly higher(P〈0.05) than those of YY and MBS. However, number of mummified per litter, number of stillborn per litter, number of dead by diarrhea per litter, number of dead by other reasons during lactating period per litter and estrus interval did not show significant difference between types of sows. There were more total number of born per litter and number of weaned per litter in year 2001 than other year. As year passed, number of dead by crush per litter, number of dead by diarrhea per litter and number of dead by other reasons during lactating period per litter reduced from 0.18${\pm}$0.023 to 0.07${\pm}$0.022 head, 0.12${\pm}$0.21 to 0.02${\pm}$0.020 head and 0.43${\pm}$0.041 to 0.22${\pm}$0.040 head, respectively and weaning rate increased from 0.94${\pm}$0.005% to 0.97${\pm}$0.005%. The total number of born per litter and number of born alive per litter were higher(P〈0.05) in the case of mating twice than mating once. The number of weaned per litter, number of mummified per litter and number of stillborn per litter were not significant(P〈0.05) between mating methods. Estrus interval was shorter on the occasion of twice artificial insemination(5.24${\pm}$0.153days) than twice natural mating(6.51${\pm}$0.466days).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.96-101
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• 2005

There were two trials involved in the experiment. Trial 1: the trial was conducted on two Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) pig farms. One was located in the north of Taiwan and the other was located in the south. Both farms had wet pad and forced ventilation (WPFV) and conventional open design (COD) boar and sow houses. There were 12 Duroc boars, age ranging from 12-24 months. Half of them (6 boars) were raised in a WPFV pig house, and the other half were kept in a COD house. Semen was collected at 5-day intervals from May $1^{st}$ to the end of October. Sixteen sows (2-8 parity) were served by artificial insemination each week from the beginning of May to the end of Oct. These sows were checked for heat from 18 days to 25 days after insemination. Trial 2: there were four MPFV boar houses involved in the test. Two houses were located in the north of Taiwan, and the other two houses were located in the south. The test was conducted from January 2000 to December 2001. The total number of serviced sows by MPFV-housed boars was 35,105 head and for COD-housed boars 103,065 head. The results showed that the total semen volume, density of sperm, total sperm per ejaculate, sperm motility and morphological abnormality were significantly better (p<0.01) for boar raised in WPFV house than for COD houses. Average sperm motility in June and July was lower than for the other months. Morphological abnormality was higher during May, June and July. Although the results did not reach a significant level, the average value showed that the total volume of boar semen was higher in the north than for the south. The total semen volume production of boar raised in WPFV was higher than for boars raised in COD house, reaching a significant level only in summer. Boars kept in WPFV house had higher total sperm number than boars kept in COD house, reaching a significant level in spring (p<0.05), summer (p<0.01), and fall (p<0.05) but not in winter (p>0.05). Boars raised in WPFV house had significantly higher sperm motility than boars in COD house during spring (p<0.001), summer (p<0.001), fall (p<0.01) and winter (p<0.05). The average farrowing rate and piglets born alive were higher for boars in WPFV house than for boars in COD house, but neither reached a significant level (p>0.05). The present experiment shows that WPFV house can improve the reproduction performance of boars.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 1996

This study was done to find out the methods of long-term use of liquid boar semen in 100 ml plastic bottle for artificial insemination and to investigate differences between Lactose-Egg yolk and Biitschwiler diluents according to storage temperature, and effect of final glycerol concent ration in Lactose-Egg yolk diluent. Liquid boar semen diluted with Lactose-Egg yolk diluent showed significantly higher sperm motility (p<0.05) after 0.5 and 2h incubation at 37$^{\circ}C$,than Butschwiler diluent at all storage length when it was preserved in the 5$^{\circ}C$ refrigerator. The NAR acrosome in Lactose-Egg yolk diluent a after 0.5 and 2h incubation at 37$^{\circ}C$, respectively, during preservation periods was similar to that in Biitschwiler diluent. When liquid boar semen was preserved at 15$^{\circ}C$, liquid boar semen in the Butschwiler diluent showed significantly higher percentages of sperm motility and NAR acrosome from third day to seventh than that in Lactose-Egg yolk diluent. In the effect of final glycerol concentration of liquid boar semen in the Lactose-Egg yolk diluent, the final glycerol concentration of 2% showed higer percentages of sperm motility and NAR acrosome than that of 0, 1, 3, and 5%. Farrowing rate, litter size and average pig weight at birth did not differ significantly between Lactose-Egg yolk and But schwiler diluents. As a result of this study, we found out that liquid boar semen can be stored for 6-7 days at 5$^{\circ}C$ in Lactose-Egg yolk diluent and at 15$^{\circ}C$ in Butschwiler diluent.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.218-222
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• 1984

The present study was carried out to investigate the behaviour of parturition, nursing and sleep with a total of 40 sows and 420 piglets during 28 days from July 6 to August 3, 1984. The results obtained in this study were as follows: 1. About half number of sows employed were recumbent and lay on their right or left side throughout the process of delivery, but the rest changed their lying sides during the delivery, about 65% of piglets born were presented anteriorly. During nursing 51.3% of sows were recumbent and lay on their left side. 2. The entire farrowing process normally lasted 4 hr. Piglets were expelled at an average rate of one for every 19.3mim. 3. The first suckling attempt was observed at about 24.3min after birth. "Teat order" were established within 32hr after birth. 4. The duration and time of nursing were 35.8 second and 24.6 times/day, respectively, in the first day of piglet life. However, they tended to shorten with the advance of lactation. The intervals between nursings were 58.5 min. in the first day of piglet life, but it tended to lengthen with the advance of lactation. 5. The sows were awake for 31.7%. drowsy for 16.7%, and asleep for 51.6% of the 24hr period a day.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.133-137
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• 2007

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between the mRNA expression levels of sperm phospholipids hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PHGPx) and heparin-binding protein (HBP), and in-vivo fertility in boars. The farrowing rate was not correlated with litter size. Sperm PHGPx mRNA expression level of the larger litter size (over 10) group $(2,414.7{\pm}400.7)$ was high that of smaller litter size (below 8) group $(1,875.8{\pm}311.2)$. Sperm HBP mRNA expression level was also higher in the larger litter size $(2,255.9{\pm}360.8)$ group than the smaller litter size $(2,155.4{\pm}378.0)$. However, significant differences were not observed. Sperm PHGPx mRNA level was correlated positively with litter size (r=0.206). Because the expression levels of PHGPx and HBP are not strongly correlated with in-vivo fertility, PHGPx and HBP can not be considered a predictive measure for fertility in boars.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.183-188
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• 2016

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of artificial insemination(AI) frequency on reproductive performance of sows. A total of 48 F1 sows(Yorkshire×Landrace) were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments using completely randomized design(CRD). Four experimental treatments were AI frequency from one to four times(AI1, AI2, AI3, AI4) respectively. Estrus detection was done at approximately 09:00 and 21:00 daily by applying back pressure to females with the presence of a mature boar and the weaning to estrus interval(WEI) of all sows were 5~6 day. Sows detected in estrus were mated at 12 hour after and mating interval was 12 hour by treatments. This experiment demonstrated that the lowest farrowing rate was observed AI3 treatment. Frequency of AI did not influence on reproductive performance when WEI was 5-6 day. No significant differences were observed on litter size, born alive and litter birth weight. Consequently, decreased AI frequency did not have any detrimental effect on reproductive performance when estrus detection was adequate. Decreased AI frequency could reduce cost of production of pigs when sows showed normal reproductive performance.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1479-1488
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• 2022

Objective: This work was to determine coat inheritance and evaluate production performance for crossbred pigs from Berkshire×Chenghua (BC) compared with Chinese indigenous Chenghua (CH) pigs. Methods: The coat color phenotypes were recorded for more than 16,000 pigs, and the genotypes of melanocortin 1 receptor (MCIR) gene were identified by sequencing. The reproductive performance of 927 crossbred BC F4 gilts and 320 purebred CH gilts was recorded. Sixty pigs of each breed were randomly selected at approximately 60 days of age to determine growth performance during fattening period, which lasted for 150 days for BC pigs and 240 days for CH pigs. At the end of the fattening period, 30 pigs of each breed were slaughtered to determine carcass composition and meat quality. Results: The coat color of BC pigs exhibits a "dominant black" hereditary pattern, and all piglets derived from boars or sows genotyped E^D1 E^D1 homozygous for MC1R gene showed a uniform black coat phenotype. The BC F4 gilts displayed a good reproductive performance, showing a higher litter and tear size and were heavier at farrowing litter and at weaning litter than the CH gilts, but they reached puberty later than the CH gilts. BC F4 pigs exhibited improved growth and carcass characteristics with a higher average daily live weight gain, lower feed-to-gain ratio, and higher carcass lean meat rate than CH pigs. Like CH pigs, BC F4 pigs produced superior meat-quality characteristics, showing ideal pH and meat-color values, high intramuscular fat content and water-holding capacity, and acceptable muscle-fiber parameters. C18:1, C16:0, C18:0, and C18:2 were the main fatty acids in M. longissimus lumborum in the two breeds, and a remarkably high polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of ~0.39 was observed in the BC F4 pigs. Conclusion: The BC F4 pigs exhibit a uniform black coat pattern and acceptable total production performance.