altrenogest and Swine-Diseases

The variation of gestation length in sows leads to difficulties performing farrowing supervision. The present study was performed to investigate whether oral administration of altrenogest until 112 days of gestation and double administration of PGF2α at 113 days of gestation can synchronise the onset of parturition in sows and minimise deleterious effects on the incidence of stillbirths and colostrum quality. Additionally, the effects of synchronised farrowing on colostrum yield and piglet birth weight, colostrum intake and survival rate of piglets until seven days of postnatal life were also investigated. In total, 193 Landrace x Yorkshire crossbred sows were randomly allocated according to parity number into two groups, i.e. control (n = 95) and treatment (n = 98). The control sows were allowed to farrow naturally. The treatment sows were orally administered 20 mg per day of altrenogest for four days from 109 to 112 days of gestation and were administered PGF2α twice on day 113 of gestation. Individual body weight at birth and 24 h after birth of piglets in all litters were determined in both control (n = 1609) and treatment (n = 1707) groups. Colostrum consumption of all piglets, colostrum yield, colostrum IgG and serum progesterone of sows were determined. On average, the total number of piglets born per litter were 17.0 ± 3.1. The proportion of sows farrowed before 114 days of gestation was higher in the control than the treatment group (8.4% and 2.0%, respectively, P = 0.05) and 92.8% of sows in the treatment group farrowed on day 114 of gestation. The percentage of stillborn piglets per litter did not differ significantly between control and treatment groups (4.5% and 4.6%, respectively). Colostrum yield of sows did not differ between control and treatment groups (5.52 ± 0.13 and 5.28 ± 0.12 kg, respectively, P = 0.174). However, colostrum intake of piglets was lower in the treatment than the control group (354.7 ± 6.6 and 381.2 ± 7.0 g, respectively, P = 0.012). Colostrum IgG was higher in the control than the treatment group (41.2 ± 1.1 and 37.3 mg per ml, P = 0.013). In conclusion, altrenogest treatment from 109 to 112 days and double administrations of PGF2α on day 113 of gestation can control gestation length in sows. No deleterious effects of this protocol on the incidence of stillbirths and sow colostrum yield were detected. However, piglet colostrum intake and colostrum IgG were compromised. Thus, care of newborn piglets in the treatment gr

Topics: Animals; Colostrum; Dinoprost; Female; Immunoglobulin G; Lactation; Pregnancy; Stillbirth; Swine; Swine Diseases; Trenbolone Acetate

A retrospective study, based on 60,990 farrowing records from 35 commercial herds, was performed to determine the incidence of early parturition (<114 d) and to investigate the relationship between early parturition and total number of piglets born, number of piglets born alive and percentage of stillborn piglets per litter. The mean gestation length was 115.4 ± 1.62 d, and early parturition occurred in 10% of all farrowing records. Sows with early parturition had significantly more stillborn piglets and a larger litter size compared to sows with a normal gestation length (114-117 d). Sows with a gestation length <114 d were 1.2 times (95% CI: 1.19-1.21; p<0.001) more likely to have an early parturition at the subsequent parity. A second study was performed in four herds (n=329) to investigate the efficacy of altrenogest administration on 110-112 d (T112) or 111-113 d (T113) of gestation for preventing early parturition and to investigate the effect of this treatment on the reproductive performance of sows. The interval between the last altrenogest treatment and the onset of parturition was 3.3 ± 1.32 (T112) or 2.0 ± 0.89 (T113) days. The gestation length of sows of the altrenogest group (T112 + T113) (115.3 ± 1.23 d) was significantly longer compared to gestation length of the non-treated sows (114.7 ± 1.69d) (p<0.01). Altrenogest treatment had no negative effect on the reproductive performances of the sows. In conclusion, the administration of altrenogest in late gestation is an effective and safe method to prevent early parturition and can counteract the reproductive losses because of premature farrowing, which may occur in a substantial part of the farrowing events.

Topics: Animals; Female; Gestational Age; Litter Size; Pregnancy; Premature Birth; Progestins; Reproduction; Retrospective Studies; Sus scrofa; Swine; Swine Diseases; Trenbolone Acetate