Can we predict shortened or prolonged gestation upon transfer to the farrowing shed?

Abstract

Application Results from this research could provide an opportunity to predict shortened or prolonged gestation, which both have direct implications for health, welfare and productivity of both sows and piglets. Introduction Farrowing is the most critical period for the survival of both sows and piglets. Farrowing is considered successful if completed within 5 h, with more than 90% of born alive piglets surviving the following 72 h, otherwise there is increased risk of stillborns, higher pre-weaning mortality or health implications for the sow (Peltoniemi and Oliviero, 2015). A better understanding of the timing of farrowing could help to allocate labour to increase observation during the critical days and therefore improve farrowing results (Peltoniemi and Oliviero, 2015). Preliminary analyses showed that approximately 92% of sows farrowed within 2 d of the expected date, but there was no improvement in overall prediction capacity from observing other factors. This study tested the hypothesis that individual observations for sows upon the transfer to the farrowing shed could be used to better predict either shortened or prolonged gestations