Breeding value of sows: selection criteria of highly productive animals and economic assessment of their use

The purpose of the work was to investigate the indicators of own productivity of repair pigs and the reproductive qualities of sows of different intrabreed differentiation according to the BLUP index and the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS) to determine the criteria for the selection of highly productive animals according to these indicators and to calculate the economic efficiency of their use in the conditions of controlled populations. The breeding value of the animals of the specified production group was determined by the BLUP index (maternal line) and the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS).     It was established that repair pigs of the large white breed of the controlled population belong to the elite class according to their productivity (age of reaching a live weight of 100 kg, days; fatback thickness at the level of 6–7 thoracic vertebrae, mm). The leading indicators of multifertility (12.5 ± 0.24 – 13.1 ± 0.16 heads), the number of piglets at the time of weaning (10.5 ± 0.17 – 10.8 ± 0.14 heads), and the weight of the nest at the time weaning at the age of 28 days (82.2 ± 1.38 – 84.2 ± 1.03 kg) is characterized by sows of the first experimental group of intrabreed differentiation according to the BLUP index (maternal line) and according to the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS). The leading indicator of high fertility (1.35 ± 0.021 – 1.38 ± 0.018 kg) and the minimum value of the index of evenness (homogeneity) of the sow's nest by live weight of piglets at the time of their birth (IVH0) (4.11 ± 0.202 – 3.52 ± 0.128 score) was found in sows of the III sub-experimental group. The coefficient of variation (Сv, %) of the reproductive qualities of sows of the large white breed of different breeding values, evaluated according to the BLUP index (maternal line) and the selection index of the reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS) ranges from 5.08 ± 0.625 to 25.83 ± 2.965 %. The coefficient of pairwise correlation (r) between the characteristics of the own productivity of repair pigs, reproductive qualities of sows, the BLUP index (maternal line), and the selection index of reproductive rates of the sow (SIRQS) ranges from –0.714 (tr = 19.04) to +0.985 (tr = 446.98). The use of sows of high breeding value, evaluated according to the BLUP index (maternal line) and the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS) (I sub-experimental group), provides additional production at the level of +6.69 – +8.08 % and its value are + 240.14 – +319.47 UAH or +6.07 – +8.08 US dollars. The criterion for selecting highly productive animals of controlled populations according to the BLUP index (maternal line) is an indicator of 111.53–165.23 points, and the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow (SIRQS) is 95.03–115.08 points.