Swine

Defining traits to improve energy balance of sows through breeding

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Abstract

As reproductive traits continue to improve, larger litter sizes have made the sow's milking ability increasingly important. Meeting the resulting energy demands is a crucial factor in this process. Energy balance during lactation affects not only animal welfare but also sustainability aspects such as feed efficiency.To assess the current situation and identify opportunities for improvement in the energy balance of lactating sows we defined the energy in- and output using data from 1,045 sows across 2,773 litters: Energy input included feed intake and mobilized body reserves, while accounting for the sow's maintenance energy requirements; Energy output included the energy transferred to the litter through milk for growth and maintenance of the piglets.From these we derived three phenotypes that were considered in our analyses: (1) Lactation Efficiency (LE): the ratio of energy output to energy input, expressed as a percentage. (2) Difference between Energy Input and Output (DiffIO): the numerical difference between the energy the sow can make available for milk production and the energy she produces. (3) Milk Energy Balance (MEB): the available energy for piglets through milk minus the output.The milk energy balance could also serve as a validation of the used formulars, since it is expected to be on average zero. With on average of -1.97 MJ/day, the obtained range aligned with expectations. Estimates of heritability were low to moderate, for LE h2 = 0.17 (SE = 0.02), DiffIO h2 = 0.18 (SE = 0.02), and for MEB h2 = 0.20 (SE = 0.03). The genetic correlations between traits were in the range from 0.90 to 0.99, with negative values for correlations with LE. The genetic correlations with other reproductive traits were lower (litter mortality, gestation length, no. piglets liveborn, or liveborn and stillborn; range -0.18 to +0.07), however demonstrate predictive capacity for further optimization of a positive energy balance. The highest genetic correlation with the number of litter per sow had the LE (rg = 0.29; SE = 0.06), while the DiffIO had the highest positive genetic correlation with the number of piglets born alive in the next litter (rg = 0.36; SE = 0.14). In conclusion, LE is the trait associated with sow longevity, whereas DiffIO is considered as better predictor of sow energy balance in the subsequent litter.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Büttgen, L., Vargovic, L., Bergsma, R. & Kamphuis, C., (2026) “Defining traits to improve energy balance of sows through breeding”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2285387. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.23674

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