Introduction
It has been previously reported that lighter pigs at
weaning had slower post-weaning growth rates and thus
required a greater number of days to reach a common
slaughter weight (Wolter et al. 2002). Multisite swine
production has become a widely used practice in
commercial pig production. How pigs flow through this
system is extremely critical and slow growing or
substandard pigs can have great annual financial impact
on the operation. Piglet birth weight has a significant
effect on weaning weight and also nursery off-test weight.
As with birth weight, there is a relationship of weaning
weight to subsequent growth performance. Pigs weighing
less than 10 lbs. at weaning (21 days) require 12
additional days to reach market weight when compared to
pigs weighing greater than 15 lbs (Azain et. al). The
present study focuses on the initial 42 days after weaning
because improvements in growth and mortality largely
occur in these initial days after weaning (Main et al,
2004). The objective of this study was to assess the effect
of piglet birth weight and weaning weight on nursery
growth performance.
Materials