Sire Effect on Reproductive and Growth Performance of Local and Exotic Sows In Rivers State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to determine sire effect on reproductive and growth performance of local and exotic sows in Rivers State, Nigeria. The experiment involved three breeds of pigs (Local pigs (LP), Landrace (Lr) and Large White (Lw)). Eighteen breeding pigs consisting three local sires and fifteen gilts (local and exotic) were used to generate seventy two progenies for the experiment. Reproductive performance such as Gestation length (GL), Litter size at birth (LSAB), Litter weight at birth (LWAB), Litter size at weaning (LSAW) and Litter Weight at Weaning (LWAW) were taken from the three different crosses for comparison. Data on quantitative traits such as Body weight (BW), Body length (BL), Heart Girth (HG), Height at wither (HT) and Rear Girth (RG) were taken on seventy two progenies resulting from the three crosses. The results showed significant (P<0.05) difference of sire on GL, LSAB, LWAB, LSAW and LWAW. LP x Lw performed better than LP x Lr in all the reproductive performances considered while, LP x LP recorded the least. The result also revealed that there was significant (P<0.05) effect of sire on the growth performance (i.e body weight and linear body measurements) of the progenies produced from the different three crosses used for the study, where, progenies from LP x Lr recorded highest BW and linear body measurements than progenies from LP x Lw, while, progenies from LP x LP recorded the least at week 0 (birth), 6 (weaning) and 12. The improvement in crossbred could be attributed to dominant genes from the exotic sow.