Vet World Vol.14 July-2021 Article-16
Research Article
Veterinary World, 14(7): 1835-1839
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.1835-1839
Risk factors associated with dystocia in swine
2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Khon Kaen University, 123 Moo 16 Mittraphap Rd., Nai-Muang, Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
3. Research Group for Animal Health Technology, Khon Kaen University, 123 Moo 16 Mittraphap Rd., Nai-Muang, Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
Background and Aim: Dystocia in swine can increase the stillbirth rate; however, its importance in pig-breeding systems has been underestimated. Until now, few studies have investigated dystocia and associated risk factors. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of various risk factors on dystocia in swine.
Materials and Methods: Out of 5,557 piglets, we included 4,997 piglets in risk analysis study. The dependent variable was dystocia, which was recorded when a birth interval exceeded 45 min or when obstetric assistance was applied. The independent variables were parity, gestation length, litter size, birth order, gender, presence of a dead piglet, birthweight, crown rump length, body mass index, ponderal index, and oxytocin use. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the associations between potential risk factors and dystocia at the piglet level.
Results: A total of 6% of the piglets were born with a dystocia event, and 47.2% of the farrowing experienced at least one event. Dead piglets and piglets with a crown rump length of >31 cm were associated with an increased dystocia rate. This rate decreased from birth order 2 to 7, stabilized to 11, and then increased till the end of the fetal expulsion process.
Conclusion: Dystocia is common in swine. Therefore, this condition should be carefully addressed by veterinarians and farrowing house personnel so that its adverse effect on welfare and productivity of sows and survivability of piglets can be reduced. Further studies investigating dystocia status and risk factors in different swine farrowing systems should be undertaken to provide more knowledge about this neglected condition. Keywords: birth order, crown rump length, dystocia, piglet, swine.
Keywords: birth order, crown rump length, dystocia, piglet, swine.
How to cite this article: Nam NH, Sukon P (2021) Risk factors associated with dystocia in swine, Veterinary World, 14(7): 1835-1839.
Received: 01-03-2021 Accepted: 09-06-2021 Published online: 16-07-2021
Corresponding author: Nguyen Hoai Nam E-mail: hoainam26061982@yahoo.com
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.1835-1839
Copyright: Nam and Sukon, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.