The Influence of Sex and Hybrid on the Fattening Parameters of Pigs

Abstract

In the experiment, we investigated the effect of the hybrid combination and sex on the fattening parameters of pigs fed with the same feed. The analyzed group consisted of 27 animals. We used the final hybrids of BU x L x PIC and BU x PIC for the testing purposes. Feeding pigs with the mixture was the same for all the tested pigs. We evaluated the average daily gain (ADG) in grams (g), feed consumption ratio (FCR) in kilograms (kg), number of feeding days (FD) in two growth phases: Phase 1 - piglets (from weaning to 25 kg), Phase 2 - test (30-100 kg). The pigs of the hybrid combination LW x L x PIC (ADG – 533.6 g, p<0.01) had a higher intensity of growth after weaning, but the PIC x LW hybrid combination achieved a better efficiency of feed utilization (FCR – 1.56 kg, p<0.05). The sex differences were not statistically significant. During the growth period from 30 to 100 kg, better fattening parameters were reached by the hybrid LW x PIC (bigger ADG - 975.8 g, a smaller number of FD - 72.3, p<0.01). The differences regarding the FCR factor between the hybrids were not statistically significant. Better fattening parameters from 30 to 100 kilograms were achieved by barrows (ADG - 929.6 g, p<0.05; FD - 76.9, p<0.01; FCR - 2.69 kg, insignificant) in comparison to gilts. This work has been created with the support of KEGA 006SPU-4/2014 and VEGA 1/0818/16.

Keywords: crossbreed, growth, sex, pigs