Author : Sri Hartantyo

Summary : The effect of shower frequency on the reproductive performance and physiological responses of gilts was studied in 32 seven-month old crossbred gilts. The gilts were distributed into four treatments composed of no shower, once shower, twice shower, and thrice shower given daily for 30 minutes each. The results indicated that gilts in no shower treatment group had significantly (P<0.05) prolonged interval of estrous cycle (24.2 vs 20.3 days), reduced litter size based on total pigs delivered (5.2 vs 9.3) and born alive (4.1 vs 8.7) and decreased litter w eights (4.9 vs 9.2 kg) at birth than those in the showered groups. The animals in the shower treatment groups had significantly (P<0.05) higher litter weights at weaning (51.4 vs 27.8 kg) due to the higher litter size at weaning (7.7 vs 3.1) than those from gifts in the no shower treatment group.