Evaluation of reproductive and production traits in the Mangalitsa swine breed

Abstract

This study evaluated reproductive and productive performance in indigenous Mangalista swine breed by comparing higly prolific sows with a control group under standardized management conditions. A total of 20 farrowings per group were analyzed. All animals were maintained under identical housing, feeding and environmental conditions to minize non-genetic variation, ensuring that observed differences were mainly attributable to biological and genetic factors. The traits assessed included litter size at birth, litter weight at birth, litter weight at 21 days and mean weaning weight. Results showed consistent and statistically significant superiority of the prolific group across all parameters. Litter size was higher in the prolific group with a mean of 8.45 piglets compared to 6.35 in the control group. Litter weight at birth was also increased at the prolific group, while litter wight at 21 days showed a marked improvement, reaching 40.39 kg compared to 29.99 kg in the control group. Mean  weaning weight followed the same trend, with 10.83 kg in the prolific group and 9.88 kg in the control group. All differences were statistically significant, with p-values below 0.0001.The prolific group additionally exhibited higher variability in some traits, althought standard errors remained low, confirming reliable estimates. These results indicate improved reproductive efficiency, enhanced lactational performance and superior early growth in the prolific group. In conclusion, within-breed selection for prolificacy in Mangalitsa sows lead to significant improvments in both reproductive output and piglets growth performances.