The data from 9,621 litters of Landraces, Yorkshires, Durocs, Hampshires and Spots and their crosses farrowed at the Che-il. Swine Breeding Farm from 7une, 1979 to November, 1981 were analysed by least squares method to evaluate the rate of stillbirth...
The data from 9,621 litters of Landraces, Yorkshires, Durocs, Hampshires and Spots and their crosses farrowed at the Che-il. Swine Breeding Farm from 7une, 1979 to November, 1981 were analysed by least squares method to evaluate the rate of stillbirths in purebred and crossbred swine in relation to the litter size at birth. The overall least squares mean for the rate of stillbirths was 7.43 percent. The results of analysis indicated that the stillbirth rate tends to increase as the litter size becomes larger than 10. The rate of stillbirths was generally higher in the purebreds than in the two-breed crosses or in the multiple crosses. The differences in the stillbirth rate between purebreds and two-breed crosses and between purebreds and multiple crosses tended to be larger when the litter size at birth became larger than 11.