The use of oxytocin in liquid semen doses to improve the reproductive performance of sows and litter parameters

Global Veterinary Summit

August 31- September 02, 2015 Orlando-FL, USA

Damian Knecht, Kamil DuziÃ?Â?ski and Sebastian Ã?Â?rodoÃ?Â?

Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Veterinar Sci Technolo

Abstract :

Porcine production still incurs huge losses due to seasonal variations in the reproductive performance of sows. Among a range of solutions, the application of proactive substances progestagens, gonadotropins, prostaglandin and its derivatives directly into the organism of sows or as a component of semen has also been used. Artificial insemination excludes proper stimulation of mechanoreceptors located in the vagina which during natural mating results in the release of oxytocin. The application of 0.5 mL oxytocin to 100 mL insemination doses just before insemination has a positive effect on the reproductive performance and litter parameters of sows inseminated in different seasons. The highest increase in the farrowing rate was recorded in the summer and for this season the average litter size also increased. The administration of oxytocin in the autumn resulted in a large increase in the farrowing rate and fecundity index but did not affect either positively or negatively the other tested parameters. In the spring season, despite an almost identical farrowing rate, better indicators for Oxytocin group were observed in terms of average litter size, birth weight, fecundity index and weaning weight. It is concluded that the use of oxytocin directly affects the farrowing rate of sows or litter parameters. In the absence of negative effects, year-round insemination with oxytocin addition into seminal doses is recommended which effectively improves the production performance and reduces the problem of seasonality in reproduction.

Biography :

Damian Knecht is the Head of Department of Pig Breeding in Institute of Animal Breeding, Faculty of Biology and Animal Breeding, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. He is the Author of more than 300 publications, 3 academic books and 2 scripts. He has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of journals. His research interests focus on improving pig production parameters.

Email: kamil.duzinski@up.wroc.pl