Genetic parameters and phenotypic trends in the mean and variability of number of stillborn piglets and changes in their relationships with litter size and gestation length

Abstract

This study examined changes in genetic and phenotypic factors affecting stillborn piglets (SB). Over 15 years, 76 851 litter records were available from Large White (LW), Landrace (LR) and Duroc (DU) sows to investigate SB. The analyses focussed on trends over time in SB and the changes in the number of SB per litter, in factors associated with SB and in genetic parameters for SB. Breed differences were identified with DU producing more SB than the white breeds (mean of 1.46 ± 0.02 vs 1.11 ± 0.01 and 1.07 ± 0.01). However, maximum differences between levels of each factor were 0.73 and 0.65 SB for parity and herd, respectively. Over the 15 years studied, SB had increased by 0.2 piglets accompanied by an increase in the total numbers of piglets born per litter (TB) of ~0.5 piglets. This increase in SB was driven by higher occurrence of more than two SB within a single litter. The effect of TB on SB changed over time with solutions of 0.127 ± 0.002 and 0.150 ± 0.002 SB/TB in 1996 and 2010, respectively. Heritability estimates for SB ranged from 0.06 ± 0.01 to 0.09 ± 0.01 for alternative models and time periods. The unfavourable genetic correlation between SB and TB of 0.46 ± 0.03 based on all data available was slightly lower using only data from the first 5 years (0.38 ± 0.07) versus using data from the last 5 years (0.46 ± 0.06). However, this increase in phenotypic and genetic associations between SB and TB over time may be larger in populations that have observed a larger increase in TB.