Introducing the new parameter piglet index lifetime performance to reveal large differences in fertility at herd level

Abstract The aim of the investigation was to examine whether a differentiated analysis of fertility performance of sow herds or genotypes is possible by using the parameter piglet index lifetime performance ( PI LP ) combining the percentage of sows present in the herd until a defined parity (described as survival rate, SR ) and the number of total born piglets ( tbp ) per sow in these parities. In the first part of investigation, in total 542 sows of three genotypes of a herd (Landrace ( L ) n  = 176, Large White ( LW ) n  = 152, Pietrain ( Pi ) n  = 214) were included in the analysis. Sows of genotype Pi had with 3.8 litters and 41.8 total born piglets a significantly lower performance compared with sows of L and LW (L = 5.0 litters and 56.4 tbp, LW = 5.1 litters and 60.1 tbp). The survival rate of sows until litter 5 was highly significant lower in Pi sows (34.1%) compared with L sows (47.7%) and LW sows (47.4%). The piglet index lifetime performance was much lower in Pi sows (1932) than in L (2791) or LW sows (2878). In the second part of the analysis, data from 49 farms with about 13,630 inseminated sows in 2010 were included. There were large differences between the farms concerning the survival rate of sows up to the 5th litter (28.1–81.3%). While the highest performing farm in five litters scored 79.4 alive born piglets ( abp ) per sow, the worst-case farm had nearly 25 piglets less (54.6). In PI LP 5, the best farm achieved a total of 6273 alive born piglets, the weakest very low 1782 abp.