This trend was highly
significant in the number of piglets born alive in the group of sows with the thickness
of backfat ranging from 11.1 to 14.0 mm. The correlation between the number of
piglets born alive and the lifelong performance was r = 0.0919. ČECHOVÁ and
BUCHTA (1995) studied the development of performance and reproduction
parameters within a series of generations of mother and their granddaughters and
found out that the thickness of backfat decreased by 7.3 mm (i. e. by 37.24 %).
WHITTEMORE et al. (1995) mentioned that in primiparous sows a sufficient layer of
backfat was a guaranty of fertility also on the second parturition.