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The presented study investigated the long-term effects of four different gilt development strategies on sow lifetime performance and longevity. Five hundred Norwegian Landrace x Yorkshire animals were offered two dietary energy levels during rearing: 13.2–29.0 MJ NE/d (High) or 10.6–22.9 MJ NE/d (Norm), and two dietary energy levels during mid-gestation (day 42–94); 27.3 MJ NE/d (High) or 22.3 MJ NE/d (Norm). Dietary treatments were only imposed in parity one. While no clear long-term effect was found on lifetime weight and backfat development, the survivability in lower parities was higher among sows offered the highest dietary energy levels during parity one. These sows also had the numerically highest number of produced piglets per sow lifetime. This study provides insight into how different gilt development strategies influence development and lifetime performance of a modern genotype sow, in a commercial setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Effects of feeding regime and sex on growth performance and carcass characteristics of pigs and of various fasting times and lairage times prior to slaughter on ultimate pH (pHu) of the neck and loin muscle, degree of gut fill and skin damage were investigated. Two hundred and seventy pigs were used involving two sexes (gilts and castrates), two feeding regimes (restricted and ad libitum) and four fasting treatments. The castrates grew faster and produced fatter carcasses than gilts, while restricted feeding tended to improve feed efficiency and led to leaner carcasses compared to ad libitum feeding. Prolonged pre-slaughter fasting period and lairage time led to reduction of the weight of the gastrointestinal tract and higher extent of fighting and skin damage. pHu in the neck muscle was indicative for the extent of fighting and skin damages, and might be a parameter for selecting raw material for dry-cured hams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]