Influence of parity on reproductive performance of sows: Insights from pig farms in Kerala

The study investigated how parity was related to various reproductive performances in crossbred sows across five different agro climatic zones of Kerala. The present study examined the reproductive performance of sows maintained up to the sixth parity by pig farmers. The shortest weaning-to-estrus interval (3.04 ± 0.21 days) was found in second-parity sows, while the longest interval (4.60 ± 0.89 days) occurred in sixth-parity sows. Optimal reproductive performance, including shorter weaning-to-service intervals was noted in sows in second and third parities. These sows also exhibited the lowest pre-weaning mortality and shortest inter-farrowing intervals, with the least weaning-to-service interval recorded at 4.27±0.55 days and the shortest inter-farrowing interval at 7.61 ± 0.43 months. Older sows in their fifth and sixth parities experienced longer weaning-to-service intervals and higher reproductive failure rates. Litter sizes at birth and weaning were higher in second-parity sows, with 11.82 ± 1.37 piglets and 8.91 ± 0.75 piglets, respectively, followed by third-parity sows. Second-parity sows also showed superior performance in other metrics such as birth weight in piglets (1.41 ± 0.14 kg), total litter weight at birth (13.17 ± 2.43 kg), weaning weight in piglets (12.12 ± 2.00 kg), litter weight at weaning (86.38 ± 14.12 kg), and weight gain per piglet (2.11 ± 0.54 kg). Better reproductive traits in sows and litter traits in piglets were observed in sows with parity two and three compared to sows with parity more than five and this study indicated that sows can be used effectively in breeding herds upto fifth parity. Keywords: Parity, reproductive performance, sows