An evaluation of boar pheromone spray to aid the stimulation and detection of oestrus in small farms in Nepal. Shrestha NP; Edwards SA; English PR; Robertson JF. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences (2001) 14(5) 697-700.
A prolonged farrowing interval was common on small farms in Nepal and may be attributable to the absence of boar contact at the time of weaning. To examine whether synthetic boar pheromone spray might be of value to aid the stimulation and detection of oestrus, 30 village farms, each with a single sow, were recruited into a field study. All sows entered the study on final weaning from their first lactation at 56 days postpartum. For 13 treatment sows, a boar pheromone spray (SOA) was applied each day after weaning while 17 other sows did not receive any stimulus (negative control). When oestrus was detected by the farmer, sows were taken to the nearest boar for service. There was a significantly shorter weaning to re-mating interval for treatment sows (42.9 vs. 82.2 day, P<0.05) and a significantly higher proportion of treatment sows rebred by day 60 after weaning (P=0.024, Fishers test). It is concluded that the use of boar pheromones improves the reproductive efficiency of sows kept under Nepalese village conditions. Copyright CABI Publishing
