News
Weight of piglets at birth: what regularity!
Since the new breeding goal has been launched in 2014 in female lines Large White and Landrace, the average weight of piglets at birth and the homogeneity of weight of piglets at birth are included in the breeding goal. These two criteria are taken into account in order to select gilts and boars, which in parallel to the increase of prolificacy, maintain or improve the average birth weight o piglets and the homogeneity of weight of piglets. In no case the increase of prolificacy shall induce a decrease in average birth weight or an increase of the heterogeneity of weight of piglets.
The table below shows the evolution, in Large White breed, of
- the average birth weight of piglets
- the homogeneity of birth weight of piglets within a litter.
|
|
Number of weighted piglets |
Average individual birth weight |
Standard deviation of individual birth weight |
|
2015 |
50 487 |
1.379 kg |
0.287 kg |
|
2014 |
51 671 |
1.372 kg |
0.286 kg |
|
2013 |
47 467 |
1.379 kg |
0.287 kg |
These data confirm the full efficiency of the breeding goal. The increase of prolificacy did not get negative impact neither on the average birth weight nor in the homogeneity of birth weight.
