2009 Univ of NE Swine Report- Effect of Dam Parity on Growth Performance

The growth performance of weaned pigs derived from different parities has not been previously evaluated; however, unpublished and anecdotal observations suggest that progeny derived from first parity (P1) dams have reduced health status and growth performance com- pared to progeny derived from mature sows (= P2). The objective of the cur- rent study was to evaluate the effect of dam parity on growth performance and immune response of P1 and P4 progeny during the nursery phase of production. Results from this experiment suggest that P4 progeny have increased body weight and growth performance during the nursery phase of production com- pared to P1 progeny. There were no effects of dam parity on immune response in this experiment