Farrowing rates and litter size following transfer of vitrified porcine embryos into a commercial swine herd

The objective was to determine farrowing rates and litter sizes that could be achieved in a typical farm-to-farm porcine embryo transfer program using vitrified blastocysts that were zona pellucida intact when cryopreserved. The embryos were transferred surgically on-farm into recipient sows that we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theriogenology 2004-05, Vol.61 (7), p.1533-1543
Main Authors: Cameron, R.D.A., Beebe, L.F.S., Blackshaw, A.W., Keates, H.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Birth Weight
Blastocyst - physiology
Cryopreservation - veterinary
Embryo
Embryo Transfer - veterinary
Farrowing rate
Female
Litter Size
Male
On-farm
Parity
Porcine
Pregnancy
Sex Ratio
Swine - physiology
Tissue and Organ Harvesting - veterinary
Tissue Donors
Vitrification
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Summary:The objective was to determine farrowing rates and litter sizes that could be achieved in a typical farm-to-farm porcine embryo transfer program using vitrified blastocysts that were zona pellucida intact when cryopreserved. The embryos were transferred surgically on-farm into recipient sows that were managed throughout gestation and farrowing under the same conditions as other sows in the herd. Twenty recipient sows (mean parity 2.1) received a total of 568 embryos; seven received 203 embryos derived from donor sows, five received 139 embryos from gilts and eight received a mixture of 161 embryos from sows and 65 from gilts. Sixteen sows (80%) were confirmed pregnant at approximately 35 days gestation, 15 farrowed at full term (farrowing rate 75%). One sow died during gestation (with a total of 18 fetuses in utero). A total of 123 piglets were born (mean, 8.2), of which 115 were born alive (mean, 7.7). Of the 568 embryos transferred to all 20 sows, 21.6% resulted in piglets born and 29.0% survived to produce piglets in sows that farrowed. There were no significant differences in embryo survival among sow, gilt or mixed sow and gilt embryos. The ratio of males to females was 71/52 and the mean birth weight was 1.6 kg (range 0.6–2.6 kg). In conclusion, vitrified zona pellucida intact embryos can be used to transfer genetic material from farm-to-farm with acceptable reproductive performance.
ISSN:0093-691X
1879-3231
DOI:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2003.09.003