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Genetic correlations between piglet birth weight, its variation and survival in different dam and sire lines using Bayesian analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

D R N G Kapell*
Affiliation:
Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, Midlothian, United Kingdom
C J Ashworth
Affiliation:
The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian, United Kingdom
P W Knap
Affiliation:
PIC Germany, Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
R Roehe
Affiliation:
Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh, Midlothian, United Kingdom
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Extract

In the UK, mean stillbirth rate is reported to be 6.7% (BPEX, 2008), which indicates a considerable loss for pig producers. Lately much research has been carried out to improve piglet survival by genetic improvement, but correlations between survival and reproduction traits showed contradictory results and seldom distinguished between maternal and direct piglet genetic effects. Some studies considered birth weight as a trait that is likely to be closely related to survival, but few looked at individual piglet birth weight. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic correlations between birth weight or its variation within litter and survival to examine if selection on individual birth weight is a viable way to improve survival.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2009

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References

BPEX 2008. Pig Yearbook 2008. BPEX, Milton Keynes.Google Scholar
Misztal, I., Tsuruta, S., Strabel, T., Auvray, B., Druet, T., and Lee, D.H. 2002. 7th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Montpellier, France, 2pp.Google Scholar