Altrenogest and fat for summer breeding of primiparous sows

Delaying the onset of estrus after weaning and adding fat to the postweaning diet were studied for their effects on estrus and fertility in 232 crossbred primiparous sows on a commercial swine farm. Sows were assigned randomly to the following treatments after weaning in June, July, August, or September, 1983: 1) altrenogest (20 mg/d) was fed for 7 d after weaning (n = 76), 2) altrenogest was fed for 7 d plus .53 kg dried animal and vegetable fat product (.45 kg actual fat/d) for 14 d after weaning (n = 78), or 3) no treatment (controls, n = 78). While a similar proportion of sows came into heat after weaning (lactation length = 4 wk), sows fed altrenogest (14.4 +/- .2 d) returned to estrus about 9 d later (P less than .01) than controls (5.6 +/- .2 d). Serum progesterone concentration was assayed in blood samples collected from a subgroup (74%) of the cows not observed in estrus by 3 wk after weaning to determine possible causes of anestrus. If serum progesterone (greater than 5 ng/ml) was elevated, we assumed that sows had ovulated without expressing estrus (behavioral anestrus) or ovulated with undetected estrus (less overt estrus or error in estrous detection), whereas low progesterone (less than or equal to 5 ng/ml) indicated that sows were anovulatory. About 53% of the sows not observed in estrus across all treatments had luteal function, probably resulting from post-weaning ovulation. Incidence of anovulation without estrus was 47%. Farrowing rate was higher (P less than .05) for sows fed only altrenogest (64%) compared with controls (46%), but similar to fat supplemented, altrenogest-treated sows (52%).